


The Bittersweet Dance of Life

by GaysWithSwords (Laura02)



Series: Dancing Souls [1]
Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Dancer, Dancing, F/F, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Vampires, Romance, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Short Story, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23245951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laura02/pseuds/GaysWithSwords
Summary: Following an injury, Charlie (Charlotte) Swan takes everything with her to Forks, where she is welcomed with open arms. Little did she know her bravery and mischievous grin would get her pulled into a supernatural mess.-or-A series of scenes in which Charlie discovers that moving in with her dad might be the best decision she has made in long time.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Rosalie Hale/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Dancing Souls [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983043
Comments: 34
Kudos: 224





	1. Part 1

“Don’t worry Mom, I’ll be fine,” Charlie said, leaning against her suitcase.

Her mom’s hands fluttered around, trying to find something to do, before they settled on Charlie’s shoulders. “Be careful, alright? And don’t overwork yourself, you know what the doctor said-“

“I know,” Charlie stressed, interrupting with a smile. “I was there when they told us everything. And now I’ve really got to go, I don’t want to miss my flight.”

“Yes, of course,” her mom said, pulling her into the tenth hug of that morning.

Charlie hugged her back tightly before pulling back and grabbing the handle of her suitcase. “Give Bella another hug from me when you get home, will you?”

“I will,” her mom answered. Charlie could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Just, call me when you arrive.”

Charlie nodded in agreement and hugged her mom one last time, savoring the feeling. Then, she finally started moving towards the check-in line, joining the queue of travelers. With one last wave back, she pulled her phone from her pocket to find something that could entertain her as she waited for her turn.

She grinned when she saw the goodbye-message Bella had sent and quickly typed an update on their mom’s state of distress. Good luck to her sister for handling that when she got back from school.

The lady behind the desk was very friendly and helped Charlie to lift her suitcase up onto the conveyer belt when she saw she was struggling.

“Seattle, huh,” the woman asked, checking Charlie’s passport before moving on to the computer.

“Yep,” Charlie answered, one hand coming up to comb through her hair. “Moving back in with my dad, he lives in the area.”

“Well, have a lovely journey,” the woman said with a smile, handing Charlie her ticket and passport.

“Thank you!”

Her backpack was small enough to fit in the space underneath the chair, and she pushed it down. Shrugging out of her bomber jacket, she looked out the window and sat back in her chair. She connected her headphones to her phone and pushed shuffle on one of her many playlists. When the familiar tunes started playing, she closed her eyes with a sigh.

-x-

“Dad!” Charlie called out, grinning widely as she spotted a familiar man near the arrival bay.

His head whipped up from his surveillance of the hall and soon a smile broke out on his face too. Charlie all but ran towards him, jumping into his arms and hugging him tight.

“I missed you,” her muffled voice sounded from where she had pressed her face against his chest.

“It has been a while,” her dad acknowledged, patting her back and letting her go. He looked her over, his eyes landing on her hair.

Charlie saw where his gaze had landed and brought her hand up to push her hair back into place. “Do you like it?”

“It’s very short,” he said. “And very brown."

“So?”

He cocked his head and nodded. “It suits you.”

Charlie felt relief at the acceptance she did not even know she wanted. “Thanks. I was looking for a change, I guess.”

Her dad hummed in response, his eyes showing understanding.

They caught up a bit on the more recent events while they made their way over to the baggage claim to get her suitcase. By the time they found themselves outside and Charlie could physically feel the difference in climate, they had moved on to the more fun subjects, like football and the fact that her dad was letting Jacob Black drive around in his dad’s truck without a license.

“You know you could get in serious trouble for that?” Charlie asked, amused.

Her dad shrugged. “I think the people have other things to worry about.”

Charlie shook her head and laughed, pulling the hood of her hoodie up when she felt the first raindrops hitting her face. “Where did you park?”

“Uhm,” her dad said, looking at her uncomfortably. “I was a bit early and thought it would be nice to go for a little walk before I picked you up. The cruiser is… a few blocks that way?”

“Dad!”

-x-

A shiver wracked through Charlie’s frame when she stepped out of the car, the cold wind hitting her. Her clothes were still very much damp thanks to her dad’s awful timing and lack of umbrellas, and now that she was no longer sitting in the cruiser with the heat cranked up to dangerously high levels, she could really feel the difference between Phoenix and Forks.

Her dad got her suitcase out of the trunk, carrying it up the porch. He fumbled for his keys, finding them in his pocket. The door swung open and Charlie stepped inside, taking in the unchanged hallway as her dad turned on the light and moved past her to bring her suitcase upstairs. When he came back down, Charlie had already taken off her coat and stood in the living room, where she was trying to turn on the fireplace.

“Here, let me help,” her dad said, moving her hands aside to push the right buttons. The fire finally ignited and Charlie sat down on the floor right in front of it, closing her eyes as she felt the heat seeping into her cold bones.

Her dad sat down on the couch behind her. “I was thinking we could order pizza?”

Charlie hummed. “Good idea. Have you actually learned how to cook since last summer, or is that still a no-go?”

Her dad looked so extremely guilty that she did not even need him to answer that question out loud.

“Well, I guess we’ll be taking cooking classes together in the weekend, then.”

“As long as we can go fishing on the day we’re home,” her dad suggested. “Or watch football.”

“Really?” Charlie raised a brow. “It’s 2019, Dad, there’s no need to feel like you should ‘reinstate your manliness’ or whatever. Besides, I’m pretty sure your future girlfriend would love it if you cooked her a romantic meal. I plan to seduce _my_ future wife with the mad cooking skills those classes will help me build.”

Her dad gasped. “You’re gay?”

“Ha, ha,” Charlie said, shooting him a playful glare. “Really funny. If you didn’t know that up until now, I don’t know what you’ve been doing the past ten years.”

Her dad could not help but grin at himself. “Come on, that was funny.”

“It wasn’t,” Charlie argued, sticking her tongue out at him. “Now shoo, go and order us some pizza. Vegetarian for me!”

-x-

“So,” her dad said, grabbing himself another slice of pizza. “When are you starting physical therapy again?”

Charlie’s eyes stayed glued to the television screen, following the movements of the players. “I have my first appointment next week, on a Thursday, I think? I’ll have to get out of school early.”

“I’ll make sure to pick you up, then. Mark told me he didn’t mind taking over some of my shifts.”

“That’s really nice of him,” Charlie said, finally looking at him. “I’ll be starting school on Monday, right?”

“Yeah,” her dad nodded. “That should give you enough time to settle in a bit. I’ll drop you off at school in the morning, but I think you’ll have to fix yourself a ride back home.”

“Oh, I don’t mind walking,” Charlie said. “It’s only like, what? 15 minutes from the school back to here?”

“Are you sure you should be walking longer distances like that with your knee?” her dad asked, a look of concern on his face.

Charlie sighed. “They said I should try and exercise more, as long as I don’t strain myself. Besides, it’s not actually that far.”

“Alright,” her dad said. “Whatever you say.”

It was silent for a moment before he spoke up again. “How did Bella cope with you wanting to move back here?”

“She wanted to come too,” Charlie said, earning herself a surprised look from her dad. “I convinced her to stay, though. Just because I want a change, it does not mean she had to uproot her life too and leave her friends behind. I asked Joseph to keep an eye on her.”

“Joseph?” he asked. “As in your dance partner?”

“My ex-dance partner, yes,” Charlie corrected. “He’s a great guy. I’m actually pretty sure he has a crush on her.”

Her dad’s bewildered face made her burst out laughing.

“I’m not even kidding! He’s a nice dude, and would be a wonderful boyfriend for Bella. I might have, I don’t know, hinted that to her too…”

“Charlie!” her dad exclaimed. “Did you set them up?”

“…maybe?”

Her dad groaned. “What else should I have expected?”

-x-

Her phone’s familiar ringtone shook Charlie out of the nostalgic haze she had found herself in when she had stepped into the room she and Bella used to share when they were young. Frowning, she took her phone out of her back pocket, her eyes widening as she glanced at the screen.

“Fuck!”

She quickly swiped to accept the call and held it up to her ear. “Hi Mom?”

“Char! Honey, I’m so sorry, I forgot my phone at the restaurant in the airport, I only just got it back!”

Charlie let out a quiet breath of relief, before feigning ignorance. “It’s alright, I arrived safely at dad’s. I was just looking around my room and planning to unpack my things. How are you and Bella?”

“We’re okay! We miss you though, baby. You have got to visit us once Christmas rolls around, alright?”

“Sure,” Charlie said, smiling.

“Now, you go and take the time to unpack your bags. It was good to hear your voice, I love you!”

“I love you too,” Charlie answered, sitting down on the neatly made bed.

She ended the call once they had both said their goodbyes, throwing the phone next to her. She had just very closely escaped her mother’s wrath for forgetting to call her once she had landed.

-x-

“Good luck!” her dad said before Charlie slammed the door of the car shut, turning around to face the school building. Or buildings, in plural, because apparently they had decided that it was a good idea in rainy Forks to make students walk outside in between their classes.

She waved her dad goodbye, watching as he drove away, leaving her standing at the side of the road. Now, on to the information desk. It was still very quiet in the parking lot, only a few cars were parked near the entrance, most of which she expected were the teacher’s. She was happy that her dad had suggested they go in a bit earlier today: now she would have enough time to get her schedule and find out where she would have to go first, without having too many kids stare at her.

Charlie gripped the strap of the backpack she had slung over her shoulder and made her way over to what seemed to be the main building. She cringed when she accidentally stepped in a puddle, the water seeping into the fabric of her shoes. Quickly she jumped up on the sidewalk, moving on.

A blast of warmth hit her as soon as she pulled – after she had tried to push, no matter what the sign said – the door open. Behind the desk near the back of the room sat an older woman, who was dressed as if it was 80 degrees outside instead of 50. She looked up and broke out into a smile that was just a tad too big for Charlie’s liking.

“You must be Charlotte Swan!”

“Yep,” Charlie answered awkwardly. “That’s me.”

“I’m Mrs Cope, it’s so lovely to finally meet you! I have your schedule somewhere in here,” Mrs Cope muttered, shuffling through the enormous pile of papers stacked on the desk. She retrieved a single sheet and grabbed what looked to be a map of the school out of an even more disorganized drawer.

Had this woman ever heard of Marie Kondo?

“We received all your information from your previous school,” she continued, laying out the papers in front of Charlie. “This will be your schedule, please take a look to see if there’s any mistakes, and here” – she unfolded the map – “is a floorplan of all the buildings.”

Charlie leaned forward to look at what Mrs Cope was showing her and then continued to hum at all the different routes that were drawn out on the map with a red pen. Finally, she got the code for her locker, and after a “Good luck!” she was on her way to her first class.

-x-

With a sigh Charlie took a seat in the back of the classroom. Luckily the Spanish teacher seemed to be alright, and she had not asked her to introduce herself, instead telling her to go and sit down somewhere. There was nothing more awkward than presenting yourself to an entire classroom.

She was scrolling through her Instagram feed and messaging back and forth a bit with Bella when someone sat down in the seat next to her.

“Hi.”

Charlie looked up to see a blond-haired girl. “Hello.”

“Are you Charlotte Swan?” the girl asked her curiously.

“Uhm, yeah,” Charlie answered, shifting in her seat.

The girl’s face lit up. “It’s so nice to finally meet you! You have been the talk of the town ever since the Chief said you were moving in with him. I’m Meghan, by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Charlie responded, as she was reminded of the fact that, yes, everyone did know everything about everyone in Forks.

A guy sat down at the table in front of her, and Meghan’s eyes flickered over to him, but her focus soon returned to Charlie. “So, where did you move here from? Somewhere in the South?”

“Moved here from Phoenix, Arizona,” Charlie shrugged. “It’s a lot warmer over there. And much less rainy, too.”

“But you’re so pale!”

No shit, Sherlock. “Yeah, I know. It’s the one trait me and my sister both inherited from my mom. Well, that and her occasional clumsiness.”

Meghan nodded and looked like she was about to continue her interrogation, but the teacher closed the door behind the last student and started the lesson.

-x-

It turned out that Meghan was in most of her classes, and after having the awkward conversation where Charlie told her to actually call her ‘Charlie’ instead of ‘Charlotte’(“but isn’t that your dad’s name?”) she was introduced to Cassandra (“call me Cass!”), Anna and about five others whose names she had not been able to memorize yet. They all jumped at the chance to meet ‘the new girl’, as Charlie has so creatively been dubbed, and she was invited to sit with them at lunch.

Which is how she ended up going to the cafeteria together with Anna, who she shared her biology class with. She chuckled at the funny story Anna was telling her, pushing the door open and walking in, weaving through the collection of tables and chairs. Then, for some reason, Charlie’s gaze was pulled right to a table near the window. Or more specifically, to the people occupying the table. Her eyes scanned the group, as she continued to hum at the things Anna was saying, but once her gaze reached the last member, her steps halted. Too distracted to notice the backpack laying on the ground, her feet got caught in the strap and before she could realize what was happening, she was falling forward, her head slamming into the corner of a table and she ended up on the ground.

Ew. Who knows what else lay down here.

“Charlie!” Anna, who had unsuccessfully tried to catch her, said. She knelt down besides Charlie, who was now groaning.

Charlie brought her hand up to her head, blinking and pulling away when it came away wet. She held her fingers in front of her eyes and even with her blurry vision she could easily see the red that now stained her skin.

“Fuck!”

People were starting to crowd around her now, but luckily Meghan had had the sense to find a teacher. Mrs Waters came hurried over, elbowing her way through the overly curious clique. Charlie, meanwhile, was trying to sit herself upright, but her head was so woozy that she could not find her balance and she ended up laying back down.

“Charlotte, are you alright?” Mrs Waters asked, kneeling down beside her as well.

“’m fine,” Charlie mumbled, trying to sit up. “Jus’ a bit of blood, is all.”

Mrs Waters’ hand came up to her head, eyes widening as she took in the gash on Charlie’s right temple. “Meghan, would you go up to the counter and ask for a clean cloth?” She turned back to Charlie. “Here, let me help you.”

With Mrs Waters’ help, Charlie managed to sit upright, although she had to hang forward as a wave of nausea washed over her. Meghan returned, and a towel was pressed onto the wound, which was still bleeding, the blood dripping down the side of her face.

“Do we need to call an ambulance?” Anna asked.

“Nawh, I’m fine,” Charlie slurred, tilting her head up to look at her new friend. She blinked against the bright lights, her eyes somehow more sensitive, and watched as a look of horror came over Anna’s face. She did not actually look _that_ awful, did she? “Told you I was clumsy.”

“I called the Chief,” came a new voice, which Charlie recognized as Mrs Cope’s. “He is on his way here.”

She had not even realized Mrs Cope was nearby. Was the entire cafeteria now filled with people? Her eyes flickered around for a moment and she was quickly able to conclude that yes, that was in fact the case.

What a great way to make first impressions.

-x-

“Let me through,” her dad’s gruff voice pierced through the murmuring of the crowd. Charlie tilted her head upwards, being careful to keep the towel pressed against the gash.

“Eyo, dad!” Charlie slurred. “Watcha doing here?”

Her dad’s eyes fell upon her and widened a bit before he schooled his features. “Charlie, you've got to start being a bit more careful, kiddo. I’m taking you into the ER, that’s for sure. Can you stand up?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said, bending her knees and pushing herself up with her hand. Or, she tried to do that, but her legs did not want to cooperate and she fell back down. Luckily her dad had grabbed her arm, and she was gently lowered to the ground. His hand tightened when she tried to make another attempt to stand up.

“Stay seated, Char, this isn’t going to work.”

Charlie looked up at her dad, who was glancing around the crowd of kids gathered around the crime scene. “You” – he pointed at a bulky figure in the back – “Doctor Cullen’s kid, right?” When the boy nodded, he continued, “Good, good. Care to help me out? I need to drive the cruiser closer to the entrance, could you carry Charlie outside for me?”

“Sure,” the boy shrugged, stepping forward.

“And everyone else,” her dad said. “Out. This is not a spectacle.”

The crowd slowly thinned out, until only a few people were left. Her dad turned back to her and said, “I’m going to get the cruiser closer to here, alright? Doctor Cullen’s kid will help you out.”

“A‘right,” Charlie said, closing her eyes for a moment. 

“Hey, I’m Emmett,” the boy said as he knelt down. 

“I’m Charlie! It’s nice to meet you,” she slurred, sticking a hand out in what she hoped was the right direction. Then she realized it was covered in blood and she awkwardly pulled it back.

Emmett laughed, but quieted when he saw Charlie’s wince at the loud sound. “Well, let’s get you off this floor.”

Charlie was still thinking about how to say she would be fine if he just gave her a moment to figure out how to make her legs walk, when Emmett picked her up bridal style as if she did not weigh a single thing. Charlie’s head rolled around until her cheek rested against his shirt, and although in the back of her mind a voice spoke concern for getting blood everywhere, it did not really get through to her.

“Ooh, you’re nice and cold,” Charlie said, burrowing her cheek further into the cold. She could practically feel it radiating from him, was that not funny?

She could feel Emmett’s chest shaking with silent laughter. “We’re skipping a few bases here, don’t you think?”

Charlie hummed. “Well, I’m sorry to tell you,” – she absentmindedly poked a bloody finger at his chest – “good sir, that I don’t swing that way. I prefer me a good lady.”

Emmett continued to shake, even when she felt the cool air hit her, and Charlie wondered why he thought what she said was so funny.

“Could you help her in?” her dad’s voice sounded.

Charlie whined a bit when her cheek left the cold pillow and she was sat upright in the backseat of her dad’s cruiser, but opened her eyes when she remembered her manners.

“Thank you,” she said, waving to Emmett with her free hand, the other still pressing against the gash. 

“You are welcome.”

-x-

“Well, what have we got here?”

Charlie looked up from where she was inspecting her bloody hands. In front of the bed in the white examination room stood a handsome man, a doctor, she oh-so-intelligently deduced from his white coat and stethoscope.

“Hi,” Charlie said, waving at him. “I’m Charlie.”

“I know,” the doctor said with a barely concealed smile. “Your father has been raving about your move to Forks for the past few weeks.”

Charlie spared a glance at her dad, who was definitely blushing now. Huh, Bella did that too.

“I am Dr Cullen,” the doctor said. “Can you tell me what happened today?”

Charlie furrowed her brows as she tried to remember what had happened in the events leading up to this bloody mess. They were going to have lunch, she and Anna were making their way over to the queue, and-

“Oh my god, Dad,” Charlie said in realization. “I was looking around and I saw this gorgeous girl and then I tripped over a backpack.”

“You tripped,” her dad said slowly. “Because of a girl? You actually injured yourself – you _hit your head_ – because you were distracted by a girl?”

Charlie nodded with wide eyes.

Her dad groaned. “Why do I not find this surprising at all?”

“Hey,” Charlie said, pointing her bloody finger at him. “I take offense to that!”

“It sounds like you had quite the first day,” Dr Cullen said, effectively breaking off whatever good-natured argument was about to occur.

“Yup,” Charlie agreed, nodding, but soon stopping herself when it worsened the throbbing in her head. “Oh! I also split my head open, it’s a bit…” she trailed off, looking at the blood that had ended up on most of her clothing and her arms.

“I gathered,” Dr Cullen said, placing his clipboard on a chair. “Would you mind if I took a look at that gash of yours?”

-x-

“You’re back!”

Charlie nodded as Meghan crashed down into the seat next to hers. “Yep.”

“My mom said you would, she talked to the Chief when he came to the store for some fishing gear last Saturday, but I wasn’t sure. None of us had your phone number, so we couldn’t send you a message either! Here, if you give me your number I’ll add you to our group chat.”

Charlie recited the numbers from memory, looking as Meghan typed them in, creating her contact in her phone. A minute later she got the notification that she had been added to the chat, and she made sure to enter everyone’s names.

“Thanks,” she said, shutting off her phone and putting it away.

“No problem!”

When she walked to lunch that day, she was _very_ careful to look where she put her feet. She safely arrived at their table, an amused-looking Anna at her side.

“Hey guys,” Charlie said, sitting down in an empty chair. She slid her backpack of her shoulder and put it on the ground, taking out the lunch she had brought from home.

The others greeted her warmly, and she was easily pulled into the conversation with everyone. Still, her eyes kept on straying back to the table of people that had distracted her on her first day. When her gaze landed on the gorgeous blonde, who was sitting in the exact same spot as last time, she was sure her heart skipped a beat.

“Ah, you’ve spotted the Cullens,” Cass whispered dramatically.

Charlie swiveled around. “What?”

“The Cullens,” Anna said, leaning forward. “The mysterious adopted family of Dr Cullen.”

“Ah, Dr Cullen,” Charlie said, turning back around to look at the family. “He’s a good man, stitched me right up.”

“Yeah, he’s the best doctor in town,” Meghan butted in. “But his kids usually keep to themselves. The tall blond and the black-haired girl are a couple. They’re _together_.”

Charlie frowned, a knot forming in her stomach. “Which blonde?”

Meghan looked at her weirdly. “The one to Alice’s – the girl’s – right, his name is Jasper.”

“Oh,” Charlie nodded, relaxing. “Good.”

Anna raised a brow at that comment, but Meghan had jumped into her role and decided to continue the introduction. “The one with the crazy hair is Edward, he’s a sophomore, like Alice. Then you’ve got Emmett-“

“Yeah, we’ve met,” Charlie said. Emmett looked up right at that moment and a grin split across his face. Their eyes met, and he waved, laughing when Charlie saluted him.

“-he and Jasper are in our year, together with Rosalie, the blonde. She is a bitch to anyone that tries to speak with her,” Meghan finished. “Especially to boys, people say she might be gay.”

Charlie inhaled sharply, an angry fire started to burn in her stomach. “Seriously? Are all people that low here?”

Meghan seemed taken aback. “Well, it’s what everyone says.”

Luckily Anna saved them from an awkward and tense silence as she changed the subject. “Are you joining us at the park today?”

“The park?” Charlie asked, returning her focus to the conversation at their own table.

“Yeah, you should totally come!” Cass said, excitedly bouncing in her chair.

“We meet up at a field a bit into the forest,” Anna explained. “It’s a lot of fun, there’s usually food and drinks, and we play some games, talk a bit, things like that.”

“Well, it sounds like a lot of fun, but I can’t come today,” Charlie remembered with a frown. “I’ve got PT in Port Angeles today.”

“PT?” Meghan asked.

“I tore my ACL a while back, during a dance performance,” Charlie said, before clarifying, “it’s a ligament in your knee, I had to get surgery.”

“Ouch,” Cass said empathically, at the same time that Meghan asked, “You’re a dancer?”

“Yep,” Charlie answered. “I did competitive dancing with a friend of mine. I had to slow down after surgery though, so that sucked. It’s one of the reasons that I decided to move back in with my dad.”

“Well, good luck at PT,” Meghan said. “Maybe you can join us at the park the next time we go?”

Charlie grinned. “For sure!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This story consists of 6.5 parts which I'm planning to upload over the coming weeks! This social distancing has sped up my editing considerably ;) Small disclaimer: I completed this story before the start of all the corona madness, and as such you'll see that, whilst it is set in 2019-2020, there is no mention of it at all. Oh well, if this story's universe can have vampires and shapeshifters, it shouldn't be too hard for you to imagine it not having corona ;) I hope you leave me a review to let me know what you think!
> 
> Lots of love,  
> Laura


	2. Part 2

Charlie rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms, watching as the History classroom slowly filled with students. PT yesterday had been brutal, but she would be lying if she did not slightly enjoy the feeling of sore muscles, the prove of having _done_ something. Her gaze flickered over to the teacher, who appeared to be reading a book. She was curious what his lessons would be like: back in Phoenix, she’d had an awesome teacher, and his love for the subject had motivated her to look into potential courses in University. Should she decide not to return to dancing full time, she would have a plan B.

“Hey Charlie.” A brown-haired boy sat down in front of her.

Charlie relaxed her arms back down and looked at his face, squinting her eyes until realization dawned on her.

“Heyo Luke,” she said, finger guns out, before her expression turned questioning. “right?”

“Yes,” he laughed. “I didn’t know you were in this class too?”

“Ah well,” Charlie said, shifting in her chair. “I am, I just managed to fall and cause a bloodbath before I even finished my first day. Which means that it’s my first history lesson today.”

“Cool,” Luke smiled. A notification sounded and he returned his attention to his phone.

Charlie, in turn, inspected the desk she was sitting at, snorting at some of the messages that were written on it. The murmurs in the classroom grew softer for a moment when the door slammed shut, but soon everyone back to talking loudly.

Charlie’s gaze was pulled away from the desk by some weird force and it landed on a certain blonde, who sat down gracefully in the chair next to hers.

Oh God. That was Rosalie.

Charlie’s heart started beating faster, and she cleared her throat quietly, looking away. From the corner of her eye, she could see Rosalie had turned around and was now talking with the other blond – Jasper? – who had taken a seat in the last row.

The lesson started just a minute later, and when Charlie managed to focus back on the teacher, she was sad to discover that his main priority was reciting most of the textbook to them. She took some notes, determined to make the best of it, but she soon started doodling funny figurines in her notebook, unable to keep her attention on the lecture

“You are Charlotte,” a wonderful voice stated, rather than asked.

Charlie’s eyes shot up from the paper, and a quick scan of the room told her the others were all working in pairs already. Shit, what had she missed?

Returning her gaze to her apparent partner, she nodded. “Uh, yeah, that’s me. I usually go by Charlie, though. And you’re Rosalie?”

Her eyes trailed up to Rosalie’s, her heart skipping a beat when their gazes met. Rosalie’s eyes widened almost indiscernibly, body freezing completely. Charlie was not even sure if she was still breathing, but before she could ask, a cough sounded from behind them and shook Rosalie out of her trance.

Rosalie looked at her brother, before settling her focus back on Charlie. “Yes.”

Charlie blinked. “Well, uhm, it’s nice to meet you.”

There was a barely disguised chuckle from the back row as Rosalie nodded once.

“Uhm, well, alright. Let’s do this, then?”

Together they bowed over the worksheet they had been handed, and tried to figure out the answers. Charlie was doing everything she could not to stare at Rosalie – her parents had raised her well, and you weren’t _supposed_ to stare at people – but she often caught herself doing just that.

There was something about Rosalie that kept pulling her in.

-x-

“Where has your mind gone off to?” her dad asked, hooking his bait onto the line.

Charlie shrugged as she looked at the rippling water, poking one finger down into it. “It’s just- I don’t know.”

“Is everything going alright at school? Do you miss your friends back in Phoenix?”

“No, I mean, I do, but that’s not it,” Charlie said with a sigh, bringing a hand up to pull at her hair. “There’s this girl? And I think I have a crush on her. But a really bad one. A _really_ bad one.” She waved her hands around frantically to enunciate her words.

Her dad hummed.

“I can’t get her out of my head and it’s driving me crazy!” Charlie said.

“Do you know if she feels the same way?”

“No,” Charlie groaned. “I don’t even know if anyone else in Forks is out as anything other than Straight™.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “Wait, I don’t think anyone even knows I’m gay.”

“They don’t?”

“Well, I don’t think I told anyone. And it isn’t like sexuality is something we regularly discuss during lunch.”

“Either way,” her dad said, gazing out over the water. “You won’t know unless you ask her. But only do it if you feel it’s safe.”

“Hmm,” Charlie nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

-x-

Charlie’s knee bounced nervously, as she tried to persuade herself to actually eat her lunch instead of pulling the bread of her sandwich into smaller pieces.

“You’re staring,” Anna said, making her jump in her seat.

“What?” Charlie asked, swiveling around.

“You were staring at the Cullens,” Anna chuckled. “Who is it that has caught your eye? Let me guess… is it Edward?”

Charlie could see her incredulous look surprised Anna. “What? Oh god no! His broody face would make me depressed for days. A perfect fit for my sister, maybe, but definitely not for me.”

“Then who?”

Charlie chanced another glance at the Cullen table and sighed, laying her head down on her arms. “Rosalie is so beautiful.”

“Yeah, I know,” Anna said, before a look of realization came over her. “Oh wait, you mean-“

“I really want to ask her out. But I think she would turn me down. What do you think?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, uhm, I don’t know?” Anna answered.

“What are we talking about?” Meghan butted in.”

“Charlie is crushing on our resident Ice Queen,” Anna explained, patting Charlie good-naturedly on the head.

“Ooh, you should ask her to go on a date with you,” Meghan said, nodding. “And if she turns you down, Forks High will just have one more thing to gossip about.”

“Lovely,” Charlie groaned, sitting up straight in her chair. “That’s really reassuring, Megs.”

-x-

_“You should definitely do it!”_

Charlie frowned. “Are you sure?”

Her mom smiled, her image blurring on the screen for a second as she moved to find a spot to sit in the living room.

_“Very sure. You won’t know how she feels if you won’t give it a chance.”_

“But I barely know her,” Charlie said, pulling a face. “Isn’t that too soon? Shouldn’t we like, get to know each other first?”

 _“Isn’t that what going on a date is all about?”_ her mother challenged. _“Learning about each other as you explore your feelings?”_

Charlie’s look turned pensive. “I think you may have a point there.”

 _“Well, whatever you do, let me know! I want all the details_ ,” her mom said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Charlie laughed. “I’m going to end this call, I should start on my homework. Love you!”

-x-

“Uh, Rosalie?” Charlie asked tentatively as the students flitted out of the classroom. Her heart was beating so loudly she was surprised no one could hear it.

“Yes?” Rosalie said, turning around from where she was packing her bag.

“Uh, would you,” – Charlie licked her lips – “would you maybe go out with me some time? On a date?”

A soft smile flickered on Rosalie’s face before she schooled her features. “No. I’m sorry, though.”

“Oh,” Charlie said, a hint of disappointment seeping into her mood, her chest feeling ever so slightly tighter. “Well, that’s okay.”

Rosalie sent Charlie a smile that stopped time for a minute. It was gone as soon as it had come, as Rosalie picked up her bag and left the classroom, joining her brother who stood waiting in the doorway.

-x-

“She likes you,” Cass said when they were sitting in Spanish class the next hour, her eyes wide.

Charlie frowned, twirling her pen around with a flick of her fingers. “No, she doesn’t. Don’t you understand that she just turned me down? As in, she doesn’t want to go on a date?”

“She did,” Cass acknowledges. “But she did it so nicely! Telling you no is like the nicest way of letting you down. Do you think you’re the first one to ask her out? Lots have tried and she totally destroyed them.”

“Huh,” Charlie said, halting her movements. “That’s kind of interesting.”

“I told you,” Cass sang. “She likes you.”

-x

“Hey Bella!”

_“Hi Charlie.”_

“How are you doing? Did anything interesting happen since I’ve been gone?”

_“No, not really. It’s very boring here.”_

Charlie laughed, laying back on her bed, looking at the patterns on the ceiling.

_“And what about you? How are things in Forks with Dad?”_

“Things are cool here, and Dad’s lovely. He’s been driving me to school and PT, so we’ve spent quite a bit of time together these past few weeks. We went fishing last weekend.”

 _“Of course you did.”_ Charlie could hear Bella chuckle. _“What else would you have done? Anyway, are the people in school nice?”_

“They’re kind of great, actually. I made a few casual friends already, which was easier than I expected since I was the center of attention when I arrived, since nothing quite literally ever happens here. Oh, and I tried to ask this girl out, but she turned me down.”

_“Awh, poor you. Is she pretty?”_

“Yeah,” Charlie sighed. “She is really beautiful, and kind, too, though she’s a bit guarded. Just like the rest of her family. Oh! There’s this guy, a brother of hers, who would totally be your type! He’s all broody and pretty and stuff.”

_“What?”_

“Just as depressing as you,” she finished, teasing.

 _“Oh well, about that…”_ her sister trailed off.

“Yes?”

_“Uhm, I have a date with Joseph next week?”_

Charlie shot upright. “Isabella! How did you not tell me this immediately? That’s amazing!

_“I know.”_

Charlie could practically see the blush spreading across Bella’s cheeks. 

“Well, it’s good to know that at least one of our love lives is progressing,” Charlie said dramatically.

It was silent for a few seconds before they both burst out laughing.

-x-

“Hi,” Charlie said to Rosalie, who sat down in her usual seat.

The hint of a smile that broke through Rosalie’s stoic mask was enough to make her heart beat faster.

“Hello.”

“How, uh, was your weekend?”

“It was alright,” Rosalie answered. “Thank you for asking. Me and my family went hiking.”

“Cool,” Charlie grinned. “I used to do that in summer when I visited him with my sister. Lots of good trails up here.”

Rosalie nodded. “Yes. What about you?”

Charlie frowned. “What, uh, do you mean?”

Rosalie’s lip twitched ever so slightly. “How was your weekend?”

“Oh,” Charlie said in understanding, her face warming up with embarrassment. “It was good. Me and my dad went to our first cooking class, which was a lot of fun.

Rosalie’s look was encouraging, and she continued. “Neither me or my dad is a very good cook, and I decided we should learn how to make some meals if we don’t want to keep eating take-out. It was a bit funny, though, because the class we took was mostly filled with overly sweet middle-aged couples, and well, me and my dad obviously don’t fit that standard.”

“It sounds like you had an interesting time for sure,” Rosalie said, tilting her head.

-x-

“What are you trying to do?”

Charlie jumped and nearly let the hammer slip out of her hand at the sudden voice. She twirled around and found her dad standing in the doorway of her bedroom with a curious expression.

“I’m hanging up some pictures!

Her dad hummed, pulling up his eyebrows. “And are they supposed to be crooked like that?”

Charlie sent him a glare. “They’re not crooked.”

“Kiddo, I need to turn my head sideways to properly look at them.”

Charlie groaned, stepping back from the wall to notice that her dad might be slightly right. Just slightly though.

“Well, if you know it so well, why don’t you come and help me?”

Her dad grinned. “I’m glad you asked. I’d rather not pull a muscle in my neck any time I look at this wall.”

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him. “You suck.”

-x-

Charlie slammed the door of her locker shut and turned around, only to bump into someone else.

“Sorry!” she said, stepping back to let the other person pass.

“It’s alright!” the short girl replied with a grin, hand smoothing down her flowy blue dress. “It was my fault too, I should’ve looked out.”

Charlie smiled back and was about to move on when the girl spoke up. “Oh, you must be Charlie!”

Charlie nodded. “Yep, that’s me. And you are” – she cocked her head – “Alex?”

“It’s Alice, actually,” Alice answered, laughing. “But you were close enough.”

“Ah, Alice,” Charlie said, remembering now. “A Cullen!”

“Correct,” Alice nodded.

“Cool,” Charlie answered. There was an awkward silence in the air for a few seconds before Charlie moved her hand to the strap of the backpack that was slung over her shoulder, pulling it higher. “Well, I’m gonna go on my way. It was nice to meet you, Alice.”

“See you around!”

-x-

“Guess what?” Charlie said to her dad as pulled the door of the car shut.

“What?”

“I can start going to dance class again!” she said excitedly. “Not at the same level I used to be at, obviously, but I can start again! Tim gave me the OK!”

Her dad smiled. “I’m very happy for you. Have you already looked for schools in the area? Or should we take some time to figure that out when we get back home?”

“Jasmine said she’d send me some recommendations when I got the green light. She’s going to be so happy when I tell her I can start training again!”

“It seems like we have something to celebrate,” her dad nodded with a grin. “How about we stop by the diner to have dinner?”

“Great idea,” Charlie agreed, eyes shining with happiness.

-x-

“You seem happier than usual,” Rosalie commented offhandedly when they were working together in History later that week.

“Oh,” Charlie breathed. “My Physical Therapist finally gave me the OK to start training again for dance. I got injured during a performance a while back, so I had to take a break from the heavy training. Was a bit depressing.”

“You’re a dancer?” Rosalie asked, surprise in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded, twirling her pen around with her fingers. “I’ve been dancing since I was very little, maybe five, or six? I competed a lot with my partner these past few years.”

Rosalie hummed, before their attention was pulled to the front of the class as the teacher announced an upcoming project on the Second World War. The classroom was soon filled with tortured groans, and even Charlie, who used to love projects like these, could not bring herself to be excited to write a report.

“Do you want to partner up?”

Charlie’s eyes widened and she turned her head towards Rosalie. “Uhm, yeah, sure, uh, I mean, I’d love to.”

“Good.”

Maybe this project was not that bad after all.

-x-

“We should get together this weekend,” Rosalie said during the next History lesson. “If we get an early start we won’t have to stress out for the deadline.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Charlie agreed, giving Rosalie a thumbs up. “Where do you want to meet?”

“I thought we could do this at my house,” Rosalie answered. “My father has quite an extensive library, and we could make use of the information we find there. Teachers love it when you use books instead of just the internet these days.

Charlie smiled. “That’s true. I think I know where you live, so that’s good.” A frown crossed her face. “Okay, that sounded creepy, even to me.”

Rosalie let out a short laugh, startling the students near them. “It is fine, I understand what you are trying to say.”

“Well, it’s a date then!” Charlie said excitedly, before hastily correcting, “A study date, I mean, not an actual date, not that that’s bad, but, well-“

“You are rambling,” Rosalie interrupted, her tone almost… teasing?

Charlie’s face flushed. “Yes, yes I am.”

-x-

“Thanks Dad! I’ll give you a call once I’m done here,” Charlie said, before slamming the door of the car shut and looking up, _really_ looking up at the ginormous house in front of her for the first time. And when she said ginormous, she meant it: who on earth has a house as big as this? And in tiny Forks? The Cullens must be loaded.

Nervously checking the time on her phone, Charlie saw she was just a few minutes early. Squaring her shoulders, she made her way over to the porch, climbing up the steps leading to the front door. Her finger came up to press the doorbell, and before long she could hear the muted sounds of the shrill ring echoing through the hallway.

Only seconds later the door opened, revealing a gorgeous woman. A smile broke out on her face as her eyes met Charlie’s and she pushed the door open further.

“Hello darling, you must be Charlie!”

“Uhm, yes, that’s me,” Charlie answered with a nod.

“Come on in! It is so nice to meet you, Rosalie has told us all about you. I’m Esme, by the way.”

Charlie followed Esme into the house, watching as she called upstairs for Rosalie. Would Rosalie even be able to hear that in a house this big?

It turned out that yes, Rosalie could hear Esme perfectly fine, as she soon came down the stairs. Her attire was a lot more casual than what Charlie usually saw her wearing at school, and for some reason it took her breath away.

“Hey,” Charlie greeted, eyes stuck on Rosalie.

“Hello,” Rosalie said. “Welcome. Let’s go upstairs, none of my siblings will be in our way then.”

Charlie toed her shoes off, leaving them underneath the coat rack, shrugging her jacket off to put it there too. “Lead me the way.”

Rosalie’s room was at the very end of the house, and it had a perfect view of the forest.

“Wow,” Charlie breathed, moving over to the floor to ceiling window. “This is amazing.”

Rosalie took a seat on the king-sized bed in the center of the room. The furniture was all made of a dark-toned wood, not something Charlie would have thought to be a fit for Rosalie at the first glance. However, as she turned back to face Rosalie, she suddenly realized that there was nothing more fitting.

Rosalie’s features were relaxed instead of guarded, the contrast almost striking. The cozy atmosphere the room exuded had Charlie relaxing too, all nervousness she had previously felt about spending time together with her unrequited crush slowly ebbing away.

Rosalie moved to sit cross-legged on the bed and looked pointedly at Charlie, who took the unspoken invitation and climbed up onto the bed, sitting opposite of Rosalie. One hand came up to pull at her hair under the heavy gaze. Her eyes shot up to meet the golden gaze and a smile tugged at her lips.

“So, where should we start?”

-x-

“Oh my god,” Charlie said, her eyes wide. “How on earth does someone even end up with this many books?”

Rosalie brushed past her into the room the Cullens – rightfully so – called their library. “Both Carlisle and Jasper are avid readers, and even Edward likes to pull open a book every once in a while. A lot of these copies we inherited from the earlier Cullens.”

“My sister would go absolutely crazy if she saw this,” Charlie commented, still in awe, following Rosalie

“She lives in Phoenix?”

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded. “She still lives with Mom, though she wanted to come with me when I first mentioned I wanted to move to Forks. She loves books, especially the classics for some reason. You wouldn’t believe how many rants I’ve had to listen to.”

“I think I can imagine,” Rosalie said dryly.

“Right,” Charlie said

“Anyway,” Rosalie continued, walking over to the far-right corner and starting to pull several books from the shelves. “These should all be fitting to our subject. Come, hold this for me.”

They both loaded their arms full and made their way over to the kitchen, which was now empty of people. Charlie was glad she did not have to climb back up all those stairs with everything in her arms. Especially since it seemed like some of these books were priceless.

“Where do we start?” Charlie said, looking helplessly at the big pile of books. While they had made a list to plan out what their report would contain, there was a lot of material right in front of them and she definitely did not feel like reading through all of them. It would take her weeks, if not months to finish all of that.

“Hmm,” Rosalie said, gaze scanning everything that lay on the table. “Let me get Jasper, I think he has read most of these. Maybe he can point out some relevant chapters.”

She disappeared upstairs and returned with Jasper in tow.

“Hey,” Charlie greeted.

“Good afternoon,” Jasper said.

Rosalie was right about Jasper’s knowledge, and Charlie watched in amazement as he picked up the books and easily found them the pages with usable information. She helped Rosalie to mark all of them and thanked Jasper for his help.

“No problem,” he said with an easy smile. “I am glad I could help.”

Once Jasper had gone back upstairs, Charlie turned to Rosalie. “Wouldn’t he have rather partnered up with you? Who is he working with, anyway?”

“He doesn’t mind,” Rosalie answered with a shake of her head. “And he’s working on his own on this project, our class has an uneven number of students. Besides, he is a true history nerd, if you did not understand that from his choice of reading material. It’s handy to talk with him when you need help, but he is too much of a perfectionist for me to work together with without going crazy.”

“I get that,” Charlie nodded.

-x-

The parking lot was nearly empty and Charlie’s patience had slowly morphed into impatience, a feeling of foreboding creeping up on her as she walked around, waiting for her dad to pick her up. Fiddling with the strap of the sports bag she held in her hand, she stared humming the song that was stuck in her head, looking around for any sign of the approaching cruiser. He should have been here long ago, and he was always on time. She had tried to call him a few times, and she could not help but worry about why he did not pick up.

Just when she had decided to walk up to the office to see if they had maybe heard something from the police, her phone rang.

“Hello?”

Charlie’s shoulders sagged in relief when she heard her dad’s voice on the other side of the line. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she listened as he apologized and explained he had been called in to a major accident on the road to the reservation.

_“I’m really, really sorry, but I can’t leave now.”_

“I understand,” Charlie sighed, disappointment washing over her. “Don’t sweat it, I’ll call the dancing school to tell them I won’t be in today. Better luck next time.”

The call with her dad soon ended as he had to get back to work. Charlie shoved her phone into the pocket of her bomber jacket, zipping it up. Running a hand through her hair, she closed her eyes and tried to deal with the disappointment

It was not the end of the world, and much worse things could have happened, things she did not even want to think about. Instead, she tried to focus on the fact that her dad was safe, just busy, and she could always join dance class another day. No matter how much she had been looking forward to this, it was not the most important thing in life right now. It had been just that for more than a decade, but since her injury she’d had time to review the choices she had made and she now actually understood there were worse things than not being able to dance.

Besides, she had gone months without dancing practice, what was another day?

Charlie finally left the school parking lot, pulling her headphones from her backpack and pushing shuffle on one of the playlists Joseph had made her before she had left. Nodding her head to the beat, she imagined the way she would move to the music when she got the time and started walking at a firm pace.

About ten minutes into the walk, as she passed the Newton’s store, a bright red car pulled up next to her, slowing down before coming to a stop at the side of the road. The window rolled down and Charlie quickly took her headphones off, hanging them around her neck.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I had to wait for Emmett to finish talking with Coach Clapp,” Rosalie said, one hand on the steering wheel as she nodded towards Emmett in the passenger’s seat. “And I could ask the same to you. Are you not supposed to be at your dancing class right now?”

“You remembered that?” Charlie asked, surprised. A pointed look from Rosalie answered her – unnecessary – question. “Well, yes, but my dad was supposed to take me there and he got stuck at his job. Car accident or something.”

“Where is the dancing school?” Rosalie asked.

“Port Angeles.

Rosalie nodded and seemingly made up her mind. “Get in the car.”

Charlie frowned. “Why? What do you mean?”

“You want to dance,” Rosalie said. “So, you’re going to dance. Get in the car, I’m taking you to Port Angeles.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Wait, actually? You’ve got to be joking.”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Rosalie asked, raising her brows. “I have never been more serious. Now, jump on in unless you want to be late.”

Charlie did not have to think twice to follow Rosalie’s instructions and she climbed into the backseat, buckling her seatbelt. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“No problem,” Rosalie said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

“And hey Emmett, nice to see you again,” Charlie said.

Emmett grinned. “Back at you. Though I must admit you do look a lot better when you’re not covered in blood.”

Charlie burst out laughing. “I think I’ll agree with you on that one.”

She looked up at the building with a mix of trepidation and excitement.

“We will pick you up when you are done,” Rosalie said, leaning against the car. “Or would you like us to come inside?”

Charlie thought about it for a second, but soon shook her head. “No, I think it’s best if I do this on my own.”

“Of course,” Rosalie said with a nod. “Good luck, then. And have fun.

Charlie watched as the red BMW drove back onto the street and took a deep breath, trying to up her courage to walk in. She did not know why she was feeling so hesitant, she had been looking forward to this moment ever since she first had to take a break from her rigorous training. But now that she was actually here, and the moment had arrived, she found herself having to break through an invisible barrier that was stopping her from moving forward.

With a last deep breath, she finally stepped up to the door and pushed it open, taking a first good look around. The smell that assaulted her senses was not what you would call pleasant, but the familiarity of it was a bit comforting. It was surprisingly quiet inside, other than for the rhythmic sound of the receptionist typing on her keyboard.

“Hey?” Charlie asked, stepping up to the counter.

The receptionist looked up. “Good afternoon! What can I help you with?”

“I’m looking for Frances? Do you know where I can find her?”

“Ah, of course,” the receptionist nodded with a friendly smile. “You must be Charlotte, Frances said you’d be in earlier today.”

Charlie smiled in response.

“Well,” the receptionist continued. “If you walk straight that way, and turn left, you should find the dressing room. You can access the dance studio through there.”

“Oh, thank you!” Charlie said.

“No problem. Good luck today!”

With the instructions Charlie easily found her way to the dressing room and she quickly changed into the leggings and shirt she had packed earlier that day. It was very silent, with no other dancers around, but in a way Charlie was grateful for the calm surroundings. She did not know how well she would have coped with this entire thing if the dressing room had been filled with people.

Once finished, she opened the door slightly and peeked inside, pushing it open fully when she spotted a somewhat familiar-looking woman next to the sound installation. Charlie stepped inside, letting the door fall shut behind her, catching the attention of the woman.

“Hi!” she said, standing up from where she had been sitting on the ground. “Charlotte, right? It’s so nice to meet you, I’m Frances.”

Charlie walked forward and shook Frances’s hand. “Call me Charlie! It’s nice to meet you too.”

She opened the door slightly and peeked inside, opening it fully when she spotted a familiar woman next to the sound installation. She stepped inside, letting the door fall shut behind her, catching the attention of the woman. 

“Welcome to our wonderful studio,” Frances said, motioning dramatically to her surroundings. “It’s a great place, best in the area, for sure. You’re from Forks, right?”

Charlie nodded, but could not help but frown at the familiar way Frances moved around. “You don’t happen to be family of Cassandra in any way, do you?”

“I am,” Frances said surprised. “Cass is my little sister. I’m impressed you figured that out already.”

Charlie smiled. “You’re alike.”

“I’ve heard that before, yes,” Frances said with a laugh. “Anyway, why don’t we get on with a warming up and a bit of stretching, before we take a look at what we can best do to build up from where you are at now?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Charlie nodded.

-x-

“Oof.” Charlie let out a breath as she climbed into Rosalie’s car before sitting back and closing her eyes. It was silent for a bit until Charlie’s stomach let out a growl. Embarrassed she sat upright and buckled her seatbelt

“Let’s get you something to eat,” Rosalie said decisively.

“Oh, that really isn’t necessary,” Charlie protested. “I can wait until I get home.”

“It is no problem for us to stop by a restaurant.” When Charlie still did not look convinced, she rephrased, “I- we would like to take you out, alright?”

“Okay,” Charlie finally agreed, glad for Rosalie’s offer as the idea of having food soon crept to the forefront of her mind. It had been way too long since she had properly worked out, and she had forgotten how hungry it always made her. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Rosalie answered. “I think I know just the place.”

She stoically looked forward as she maneuvered the car onto the street, not reacting to Emmett’s surprised look.

Just about ten minutes later they arrived at a small restaurant near the edge of Port Angeles. Charlie spotted the bright red letters on the front which spelled out the name of the restaurant and a smile broke through her exhaustion.

“I’ve got to take a picture of this,” she mumbled, patting her jacket’s pocket for her phone. Pulling it out, she quickly snapped a picture and set the image through, typing a short message to accompany it.

Emmett and Rosalie were watching her with curiosity, and Charlie cleared her throat awkwardly when she looked back up and realized how weird she must have looked without any context.

“My sister’s name is Bella,” she explained, pointing to the sign saying ‘Bella Italia’. “I thought it was funny you took me here. I let her know she now has a restaurant that was name after her. It’s kind of lame, I know.”

Emmett laughed, whereas Rosalie just shook her head with a roll of her eyes, though her lips quirked up ever so slightly. “Let’s go inside.”

It was not busy at all inside, and a server soon came up to them to point them to a table near the window. They all ordered something to drink, and the server returned with three menus.

“Hmm,” Charlie hummed, scanning through her menu. “What are you guys going to have?”

“Nothing.”

Charlie looked up at Rosalie. “Nothing? Aren’t you guys hungry?”

“We had some early dinner before we picked you back up,” Emmett said. “We got hungry while waiting.”

“Owh,” Charlie nodded. “But do you really not mind that I am-“

Rosalie’s pointed look cut off her sentence. “We already told you we wanted to take you here. Now quit asking questions and pick something to eat.”

Charlie ended up ordering some vegetarian lasagna and they talked about some light things as they waited for her food to be made.

“So, vegetarian, huh?” Emmett asked, sitting back in his chair with a glint of something unreadable in his eyes. “Just not feeling meat today, or…?

“No, that’s not it.” Charlie shook her head. “I’ve been a vegetarian since I was twelve. My mom had another obsession, this time with vegetarian cooking and I took to it. I also saw some videos that really messed me up, and I decided to stop eating meat.”

“Nice, we’re vegetarians too,” Emmett said, which earned him a warning look form Rosalie.

“Really?” Charlie said, surprised. “All of you?”

“Yep,” he nodded. “Carlisle really values life and it kind of stuck with all of us.”

“Cool.”

The server arrived with a steaming plate of lasagna and Charlie was practically drooling by the time it was placed on the table in front of her. With an “enjoy your meal” the server disappeared and Charlie dug in.

Damn, after a hectic day like this one, that shit tasted good as fuck.

-x-

With a wave of goodbye Charlie watched as the red BMW turned out of their driveway. Her eyes tracked it until she could no longer see it and then she finally walked up to the door. The cruiser was still not in the driveway, meaning her dad was not home yet and she would have the house to herself for a while.

She fumbled with her keys before finally getting the door unlocked and pushing it open, leaving the keys on the dresser next to the coat rack. Humming along to the song that was stuck in her head, she made her way over to the kitchen, pulling out her phone to check if she had any new messages.

“Hello.”

Charlie let out a shrill scream, her heart jumping in her chest as her eyes shot up to the offender. “Leah! You idiot! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Calm down, you exaggerating weirdo,” Leah said, sticking her tongue out, her legs swinging back and forth from her spot on top of the counters. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Charlie scoffed. “You scared the living daylights out of me! What on earth are you doing here anyway?”

“I thought I would come and say hi to my childhood friend, since said friend has not been around to see me in the few months she has been back in Forks.”

“And you decided you would best do that at” – Charlie glanced at the clock – “half past nine in the evening?”

“Yep,” Leah nodded, her eyes glinting with mischief.

“I hate you,” Charlie groaned. “I love you, but I hate you because I was really looking forward to taking a nice and relaxing shower.”

“Sorry.” Leah shrugged in a way that said she was definitely not.

“Well,” Charlie said, dragging a hand through her hair. “Now that you’re here, would you like some tea? Or… hot cocoa?”

A grin spread across Leah’s face. “I’d love that.”

They settled themselves on the couch in the living room with steaming mugs and a package of cookies Charlie had pulled out of the pantry. It did not take long for them to catch up on what had happened since the last time that Charlie had visited Forks, and they soon found themselves back in that place of easy conversation and lots of laughter.

She had missed this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, I hope you're all doing good :) I felt like uploading another part today, I hope you enjoy it! If you have the time, please leave me review, I'd really appreciate that. This is part 2 out of 6 full-length parts, and then there's two more small scenes at the end of the story :)  
> \- Laura


	3. Part 3

“Rosalie drove you all the way to Port Angeles on a Thursday afternoon?” Cass’s eyes were as big as saucers once Charlie was finished recounting what had happened.

“Well, Emmett was there too,” Charlie said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“There is no way she doesn’t like you,” Cass continued, ignoring Charlie’s remark. “There is absolutely no way.”

“Cass is right, you know,” Meghan agreed. Even Anna, who usually kept out of conversations like these, nodded.

“Come on guys, she turned me down, I’ve told you this already,” Charlie denied.

“Yeah, but that was like, over a month ago?” Cass said. “A lot can happen in a month, and you guys know each other better now. I’m sure that if you asked her out now, she wouldn’t say no.”

“I’m not doing that.” Charlie shook her head. “No way! That would be too embarrassing. Especially since we’re, well, kind of friends now?”

“I have an idea,” Meghan perked up. “There’s a formal dance in a month. You should ask her to go with you, whether as a date, or ‘just as friends’ as you like to say it.”

Charlie pulled a face. “I don’t know.”

Cass smiled. “It’s all up to you.”

-x-

Her heart starting beating a little faster as Charlie straightened the stylish blazer she had pulled on that morning in an effort to look a little more put together, trying to remember how she had ended in this position in the first place. Ah, right, peer pressure. Charlie did not know whether to love or hate her friends for roping her into all of this. There was no more time to think about it, though, because she finally saw Rosalie and Emmett approaching the cafeteria together and she stepped out of the little alcove next to a row of lockers.

“Rosalie?” she said tentatively, bringing a hand up to nervously tug at her short hair.

Both Rosalie and Emmett came to a stop, the other students weaving around them to enter the cafeteria. Rosalie looked at her curiously. “Yes?”

“Would you,” Charlie started, eyes flickering to Emmett and then back to Rosalie, before she just gave in and rushed out her question. “Wouldyougotothedancewithme?”

It was very quiet for a moment, and Charlie worried her words had been inaudible and she would have to say it again, but finally Rosalie spoke up. “As a date, you mean.”

“I, well,” Charlie backtracked. “If you want, we could go as friends, but essentially, yes. I mean, if you don’t-“

“Okay,” Rosalie interrupted, leaving Charlie gaping, unsure if she had heard that correctly.

“For real,” she managed to get out. “Are you sure?”

“Do I look like I’m unsure?” Rosalie challenged with the familiar words.

“Yes- No, I mean no!” Charlie said quickly, feeling her cheeks heating up with a blush that she was more used to seeing on her sister than herself.

“Good,” Rosalie nodded. “I’ll pick you up.”

With those words, she motioned for Emmett – who was badly concealing his own surprise – to continue into the cafeteria, leaving Charlie on her own. No sooner did the doors fall shut, or she had turned around, eyes wide as they sought out her friends, who had been waiting around the corner.

“And?” Meghan asked impatiently.

“She said yes.”

-x-

“You’re doing much better,” Frances remarked at the end of the group session Charlie had been joining for a while now.

Charlie grimaced. “Yeah, a little. I’m still nowhere near where I was, though.”

“You can’t expect that from yourself either. Your body needed time to heal, and now it needs time to build back up.”

“I know that,” Charlie nodded with a sigh. “It doesn’t make it any easier though.”

Frances smiled. “That’s true. But the only thing you can do know is to keep on going and listen to your body. I wanted to wait a little longer to tell you this, but if you keep improving like this, I’d like to move you up a level. You could keep away from competitions for the time being, but once your PT gives you the OK, you can get some extra hours of training.”

Charlie gaped. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Frances nodded. “You’ve got talent, and I’d like to help you get back to the level you were at, and further.”

A grin spread across Charlie’s face. “Thank you! Oh, you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

-x

“Dad!” Charlie called upstairs. Within seconds her dad’s head appeared from his bedroom.

“Yes?”

“It’s time for cooking class! We have to leave.

His expression told her that he had most definitely forgotten about that, and with a few mumbled expletives he disappeared, only to reappear in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head. Charlie tapped her foot impatiently, hiding her amusement as her dad rushed to put his coat on. Finally, they stepped outside, into the cold.

They still had enough time to make their way to Port Angeles without having to break any speed limits – not that her dad would have done that, of course. Parking the cruiser in a spot near the entrance of the building, they quickly went inside, where they were welcomed by a balding man named Kelvin who had been guiding them through the course these past few sessions.

Whereas it had been very awkward the first time they had joined the class – they had suddenly found themselves between tons of overly sweet middle-aged couples – now they were more comfortable and they had great fun ridiculing the nauseatingly sweet gestures and words of the others.

Like father, like daughter.

Charlie pouted when her dad took the glass of wine she had been handed while they waited for everyone to arrive, but he would have none of it. “I’m a cop, honey.

With a huff, Charlie crossed her arms, but it was not long before both she and her dad burst out laughing.

“Right!” Kelvin called, shutting the door behind the last couple. “Welcome, please all join me at the counter. Today we have a lovely Italian dish on the menu, let us start!”

Charlie hit her dad’s arm as she saw his face automatically contort with disgust. “Come on, dad, no need to be like that any time you have to eat something you’re not used to! You know well enough that you’re going to love it. You can’t keep eating basic and bland meals all your life.”

Her dad’s limited taste palette would one day drive her crazy.

The cooking class passed without much further quarreling, at least no more than usual. They received a mixture of annoyed and delighted looks from the other couples, but they did not pay any attention to it. When they reached the taste-testing part of the class, both Charlie and her dad found a place to sit at one of the tables next to the window with their filled plates. As Charlie had predicted, her dad loved it, and he went back for seconds whilst she was still on her first, sitting back down with another full plate.

“So,” he said in between a few bites. “Should we get you something to wear for the dance? You’re going, right?”

“Anna, Cass and the others asked me to join them for Seattle coming weekend,” Charlie answered, playing around with her fork.

“I’ll transfer some money, you can buy yourself something nice,” her dad said

“Thanks, that’s awesome,” Charlie smiled.

“So, you got yourself a date after all? Ro-what’s-her-name? One of the Cullen’s kids?”

“Rosalie,” Charlie nodded, a dreamy look spreading across her face. “I really like her.”

“That’s-”

Her dad could not even finish his sentence, as a woman from the table next to theirs spoke up, her face contorted. “Are you going on a date with a girl? Nothing good can come from that, girl, you know that, right? It’s a weird teenage phase, my sister’s son had something like that too, a while ago, he luckily grew out of it and-“

Anger started bubbling up in Charlie’s stomach and she opened her mouth, but her dad beat her to it. “Don’t you dare insult my daughter like that. Or anyone else, for that matter, your words disgust me. Keep your thoughts to yourself in the future, unless you realize how wrong you are, or there will be dire consequences.” His eyes flashed outside to his cruiser, and the woman paled considerably.

“I- all I meant-“ she backtracked.

“Think carefully of your next words,” her dad said, the fire burning in his eyes brighter than Charlie had ever seen. The woman seemed to have regained some dignity, or at least some sense of self-preservation, as she quieted down and returned her attention to her plate with a red face.

Her dad let out a deep, tired sigh. “Sorry that happened, kiddo.”

“It’s alright,” Charlie tried to placate him. “I’m used to things like that coming up every once in a while.”

“But you shouldn’t,” her dad said, shaking his head. “This shouldn’t be a usual thing.”

Charlie had no idea how to respond.

-x-

When she brought up the incident with Leah the next day, as they were walking along the shore of La Push after school, it was silent for a minute.

“There’ll always be homophobic people around, I’m afraid,” Leah said then. “I’m glad your dad stood up for you, though.”

Charlie winced as she was reminded of Leah’s dad’s reaction to his daughter’s coming out, but a fierce look from Leah kept her from expressing how sorry she was.

“I didn’t mean for this to become a pity party, and I most certainly don’t want this to become a competition of ‘who has the saddest story’,” Leah said warningly. “It’s just nice that there’ll also always be people who will stand up for you.

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded. “That’s true. And I’ve not had any negative comments about this all from any of my friends.”

“That’s good,” Leah said with a small smile. “My friends are slowly getting used to it, but it’s hard for them to do growing up in, well, all of this, with the chiefs and their beliefs.”

Charlie hummed.

“Did I tell you I’ve got a date for the dance?” she said suddenly.

Leah swiveled around and punched Charlie’s arm. “What! You’re telling me this now? How could you keep that from me?”

Charlie sent her a mock glare, rubbing her arm. “Ouch! Friends don’t hit friends, Leah!”

“Yeah, but friends _do_ tell other friends about their hot dates, and you didn’t do that either, huh?”

“Come on,” Charlie groaned. “I’m telling you now! I finally asked her and she said yes, so we’re going together.”

“I need the details,” Leah said, grabbing Charlie’s shoulders and shaking her. “Name? Looks? How long have you been pining after her?”

“Calm down,” Charlie said, but she could not contain her grin. “Let’s get moving and I’ll tell you everything.”

Nearly an hour later she had finally caught Leah up on everything, the latter simply listening with wide eyes.

“Damn,” Leah nodded when Charlie stopped talking. “She sounds like one hell of a girl.”

Although Charlie tried to reel herself in – for Leah’s sake – she could not help but smile dreamily. “That she is.”

“And she’s a Cullen?” At Charlie’s nod, Leah snorted. “It’s maybe better to keep that part to yourself, should you ever come to the topic here on the Rez.”

Charlie frowned. "Why?”

“I have no idea,” Leah shrugged, sauntering across the beach towards the parking lot. “Most people, well, most old people, seem to hold some kind of a grudge against the Cullens. But then again, they seem to hold a grudge against anything that isn’t in their _norms_.”

Charlie pulled a face, following behind. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

“And apparently,” Leah said in a mock whisper, turning around. “The Cullens aren’t entirely _human._ ”

Charlie burst out in laughter.

-x-

Charlie was rethinking her assessments, because _dear god_ there was no way Rosalie was human. Standing right there, on the porch, the dark sky acted as a canvas that painted the inhumanly beautiful figure, here hair down in soft waves and a deeply red dress wrapped delicately around her body. Most of all, though, Charlie’s eyes could not help but linger on Rosalie’s, which seemed to express more than ever, even behind the walls that constantly seemed to be pulled up to conceal her thoughts and soul.

“Hi,” Charlie finally managed to get out. “Would you like to come in?”

Rosalie's lip quirked. "Sure."

Stepping aside to let Rosalie pass, Charlie let out her breath in a woosh. “You look beautiful.”

Their gazes met again, and for a brief moment Charlie spotted an indiscernible emotion in them, before Rosalie smiled softly. “You look rather lovely yourself.”

Charlie blushed, looking down at the jumpsuit and blazer combo she had bought last Saturday when she went out to Port Angeles with Cass, Anna, Meghan and a few others. It wasn’t the dress her mom would have imagined her in when she was little, but it was definitely more _her_.

“Thanks.”

“Interesting touch, those Vans,” Rosalie added with a tilt of her head.

Charlie stared down bashfully, shuffling her – very comfortable – feet. “Pumps aren’t really my thing.”

“I like it.”

Charlie looked up in surprise, but Rosalie had already turned away, stepping into the kitchen where her dad was sitting.

“Hi Rosalie,” it sounded.

Charlie was quick to follow her date into the kitchen.

“Good evening, Chief Swan,” Rosalie said. “How are you doing?”

Her dad smiled, pushing the gun that lay on the table to the side, earning him a sigh in exasperation from Charlie. “I’m doing good. And please, call me-“ he winced. “Well, maybe not.”

Rosalie let out a chuckle. "Better not to make things confusing."

“Well, either way, take care of my girl, will you?” Ignoring Charlie’s reddening cheeks, he tried to school his expression into something intimidating, but it did not really work.

“Of course,” Rosalie simply answered.

“Good,” her dad said, a smile spreading across his face. “Now, where did I leave my phone? I want to take a picture of the two of you.”

-x-

Once her friends had gushed over how beautiful they looked as a couple, Rosalie pulled Charlie onto the dancefloor, where they found an easy rhythm after a bit of awkward fumbling. In her pumps, Rosalie was a little taller than normal, making that Charlie had to crane her neck to meet her date’s eyes.

“I’m sorry for their antics.”

“Your friends?” Rosalie said, surprised. “They are not bad. You should have heard my siblings.”

“What did they think of all this?” Charlie asked.

Rosalie sighed loudly, attracting a few curious looks from the couples next to them, who looked away just as fast when she threw a withering glare their way.

“They have been making innuendos all week. It doesn’t help that I haven’t dated in-“ She cut herself off, taking a deep breath. “Well, I haven’t dated in a while. And now they are throwing years’ worth of terrible jokes at me.”

“Are they bad?” Charlie asked with a smile, noticing the hint of exasperated affection on Rosalie’s face. “Should I confront them and save your honor?”

“No need,” Rosalie shook her head. “I can save myself.”

They swayed together for a while, exchanging some words, but mostly just relishing in each other’s presence. No one invaded the little bubble they had created for themselves; instead they were evaded as if by some unspoken rule.

When Charlie’s feet got tired, she took a small step back. “Would you mind sitting down somewhere?”

“Of course not,” Rosalie said, leading them off the floor and towards the side, where a couple of tables stood. All of them were filled with bored-looking kids who were sipping on drinks Charlie would not trust to drink with her life.

“Let’s go outside,” Charlie suggested. Rosalie quickly agreed, shoulders tensing up, but once they stepped outside, she seemed to relax immediately

Both were quiet for a moment, relishing in the change of environment. They could still hear the party going on inside, the DJ having changed the music to something more upbeat, but the sounds were dulled by the closed door. Charlie sat down on the bench close to the gym’s entrance, Rosalie soon following, sliding over to close the small gap between them.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” Charlie said, suddenly shy as she looked up at Rosalie.

Rosalie smiled. “I had fun.”

The weird static that always seemed to play up whenever they were together intensified when their eyes, seeking each other out, met. Slowly but surely, their bodies leant towards each other, breath hitching until they were barely an inch apart. Charlie’s eyes flickered down to Rosalie’s lips, before flickering back up, looking for a sign, _anything_ to say that she was not the only one who felt this, wanted this.

She soon got her answer when Rosalie surged forward, closing the distance between them, their lips finally touching. Though it felt clumsy at first, they soon moved in sync, like they had done this hundreds of times before. Crawling impossibly closer together, warmth and cold mingled together into one burning hot fire. Charlie’s hands moved from Rosalie’s arms to gently cradle her face before she had to break away from their kiss to gasp for a much-needed breath.

“Wow,” she whispered. Her eyes were wide as she took in Rosalie’s expression.

Whilst on the outside Rosalie seemed stoic and composed, for once the golden gaze lacked the usual barriers and said things her mouth did not. _Wow indeed._

Closing her eyes, Charlie took another deep breath, telling herself this was not a dream and trying to shake her brain out of the temporary stupidity it had entered once she had kissed Rosalie.

Dear god. _She kissed Rosalie_.

“Do you,” Charlie started, before clearing her throat and starting over. “Do you mind if we do that again?”

Rosalie’s hands found Charlie’s cheek and pulled her in to meet the chapped lips with her own.

-x-

Charlie watched from the small window next to the front door as Rosalie drove away, out of sight. Raising a hand to her lips, she let her head fall against the cold glass, her breath fogging it up.

"Char?"

She let her hand fall down and turned around to find her dad standing in the doorway of the living room. His eyes scanned her over and landed upon her flushed face.

He raised a brow. “Had a good night?”

“I think I might be falling in love,” Charlie blurted out, eyes wide.

-x

“You look happy,” Anna observed, catching the attention from Cass and the others sitting at their table.

“Huh?” Charlie asked, looking up from her sandwich distractedly

“You look happy,” Anna repeated, looking like she wanted to laugh. “I’m guessing things with you and Rosalie are going well?”

A goofy grin spread across Charlie’s face. “You could say that, yeah. She’s taking me to dance class later tomorrow and then we’re going home to watch a movie or something like that.”

“Damn,” Cass said, nodding. “You really warmed up our resident Ice Queen.”

“Please don’t refer to her like that,” Charlie said with a frown. “It makes her sound like some kind of… I don’t know, it just doesn’t sound very nice.”

“Of course,” Cass backtracked. “Sorry.”

Charlie smiled in acceptance. “Unless you’re comparing her to Elsa. In that case, I agree, because Elsa is a total badass.”

“You are comparing me to Disney characters now?”

All her friends froze whilst Charlie turned around with the softest look on her face to find Rosalie standing right behind her chair. “Only the ones that can kick ass. And save like, entire kingdoms. Honestly, I don’t remember what actually happened, it’s been years since I watched that movie.”

Rosalie nodded. “I’ll take it. Want to join me for lunch?”

“How about you join _me_ for lunch?” Charlie said, raising her brow in a challenge.

Rosalie’s eyes flickered towards the group of students who quickly pretended they had not all been watching the exchange. With a barely noticeable straightening of her back, she grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table, dragging it around before seating herself next to Charlie, who was now ruffling through her bag on the ground. Coming back up, she put the red apple and water bottle on the table with a thud.

“Did you eat?” Charlie asked quietly, now that the others had averted their attention to Luke, who was telling them about a trip on the beach. Rosalie had – quite hesitantly – explained that she preferred not to eat in front of others a while back, which made Charlie check in with her whenever they were having food.

Rosalie’s lip quirked up. “Yes.”

Satisfied Charlie turned towards her apple, taking a bite.

-x-

Frances’s eyes were wide as she watched Charlie walk to the side of the hall, where the latter picked up her bottle and gulped down half of the contents. Breathing heavily, Charlie screwed the cap shut, wiping the excess water from her mouth with the back of her hand. It was only then that she noticed Frances was watching her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably under the scrutinizing gaze.

Frances seemed to shake herself out of whatever trance she had been in. “No. No, not at all. You’re just… different? I think your performance today tops every single other time I’ve seen you these past few months. I have no idea what to think of it, you keep on surprising me!”

A small and proud smile lit up Charlie’s face. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely,” Frances said.

Charlie’s eyes flickered towards the window that connected the dancing hall to the canteen, where Rosalie was watching her. She gave a small wave, receiving a smile in return.

“Someone special?”

“My-“ Charlie started before stopping herself. “We’re dating, I guess?”

“Well, you can bring her along whenever you like, if she has this effect on you,” Frances joked.

-x-

“What are we?” Charlie asked tentatively when they sat in the car, on their way back to Forks.

Rosalie took her eyes off the road for a second, before focusing again. “What do you want us to be?”

“I-I mean,” Charlie stuttered, cheeks reddening. “Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

It was silent for way too long for Charlie’s liking, but Rosalie soon broke through it, smirking at Charlie’s discomfort.

“I’d love that.”

-x-

Snuggling up under the fluffy blanket Rosalie’s mom had handed them before disappearing upstairs, Charlie watched as Rosalie put the DVD into the player. She felt completely wrecked, emotionally exhausted from the day at school and muscles aching from dancing class. When Rosalie came back over to the couch, she held up the blanket for her girlfriend (her heart made a little jump in joy every time she thought of that word) to crawl under. Scooting closer, Charlie leaned her head onto Rosalie’s shoulder.

“You’re-“ she started, frowning. “You’re not cold, but you’re not warm either.”

“Poor circulation,” Rosalie said stiffly in explanation, but now that they had spent more time together Charlie could hear an underlying tone that told her there was more to the story.

“Well, I don’t mind it,” Charlie shrugged. She felt Rosalie relax and snuggled further up into her side. “I can be hot enough for the both of us.”

Rosalie groaned, sagging into the couch as Charlie looked up with a mischievous look. “Was that bad?”

“Yes,” Rosalie answered without hesitation.

Charlie pouted. “You’re no fun.”

“Do you want to watch this movie or not?”

Charlie stuck out her tongue and leaned over Rosalie to snatch the remote and press play.

It was a lovely relaxing evening, though no matter how much she begged her girlfriend, she could not get her to sing the duet to ‘Love is an Open Door’.

-x-

“This has been a while,” Charlie remarked, jogging behind her dad, who was carrying a crate of beer

“Yeah,” he nodded, stepping onto the beach, making sure Charlie could move down safely before walking into the direction of the burning fire. “Did Leah say if she would be coming?”

“ _Oui_ ,” Charlie said. “She said she’d be here if I would come too. Apparently most people here are still being dicks to her.”

“Language,” her dad scolded half-heartedly, shaking his head.

The closer they got to the group that was gathered, the more Charlie could feel the heat of the growing fire and she relished in its warmth. It was quite cold out – it was winter after all – but she had at least been smart enough to wear her thick winter coat. She would probably still smell the smoke on in for weeks to come, but at least she would not die from hypothermia. That was something, at least.

"Char!" 

Charlie’s eyes scanned the group until they landed on Leah, who sat on a trunk in front of the fire. A smile spread across her face. “Lee-bear! How’re you doing babe?”

Moving away from her dad, who had spotted some of his friends as well, she found her way over and flopped down next to Leah, making the trunk wobble dangerously.

Leah had to grab onto Charlie’s arm to prevent herself from tumbling off. “Asshole!”

“You wound me,” Charlie pouted.

“Sit down like a normal person next time and I’ll be nicer,” Leah rebutted.

Their banter was soon shushed by a few younger kids near them as one of the elders of the Quileute tribe sat forward, looking around the group before settling his gaze on the fire.

“Story time,” Leah mock-whispered, earning herself a snort from Charlie and a whole lot of annoyed glances from the others.

-x-

“Now they’re known as the Cold Ones.”

Charlie, who had initially been amused by Leah’s whispered commentary to the stories they had heard many times before, during the bonfires in summer, found herself paying attention when she heard the start to a tale she did not know.

The story of wolves and Cold Ones seemed similar to some earlier ones, but for some reason it stuck out to her now. A story about _blood-sucking creatures_ , apparently, or vampires, like she had deduced. Whilst she and Bella had both had their vampire-obsession phases a few years earlier, she did not actually remember that much about the myths surrounding them. It seemed curious though, for the Quileutes to have a story that resembled a popular trope in modern fiction.

Shaking off the weird feeling that crept up her spine, Charlie stretched her legs in front of her, feeling the warmth of the fire seeping into her stiff limbs. Around them, conversations were starting up again, the mysterious atmosphere of the stories dissipating as the people talked and passed drinks around.

“Hey Charlie!”

Charlie turned sideways, a grin splitting her face when she spotted the boy. “Seth! How are you doing?”

“I’m good, I’m good,” he said, sitting down in the empty space next to Charlie, who scooted closer to Leah to make more space. “How, uh, are things going for you?”

“Pretty good,” Charlie nodded. “Are you still working on your paintings?”

Seth’s face lit up. “Yes! Even Leah thinks I’m getting better.”

Charlie looked towards Leah, who shrugged it off, though the adoration in her eyes was clear. “He is alright.”

“Well, tell me more! As your first future customer, I need to know all the details.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I hope you're all doing okay :) I thought it was about time that I uploaded another part! This story was 100% a guilty pleasure project, and I had a ton of fun writing it, it's good to see you're enjoying it too. Although my initial plan to make it a 5-10K oneshot did not work out as planned when the story got away from me ;) Thank you to everyone who left me a review, I really appreciate it! If you have some time, please leave me another one to let me know what you think of this part!  
> \- Laura


	4. Part 4

“Wow,” Charlie whistled, looking around the garage. “This is awesome!”

A small smile graced Rosalie’s lips. “Yes, it is.”

“Did your dad teach you how to work with all of this?” Charlie asked, tearing her eyes away from the messy workbench. “It doesn’t really sound like something he would be interested in.”

“I taught myself,” was Rosalie’s short reply.

Charlie blinked. “Okay, that made it at least one hundred times more awesome.”

Rosalie raised her brows. “Are you done gawking? You were the one who wanted me to show you my new car.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were into mechanics until you told me, like, three minutes ago, and now I want to know more. I can’t help it that you’re such an interesting person!”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Obviously,” Charlie answered with a grin. “Well, now you need to show me around the garage too! How often do you come down here?”

-x-

“I’m flying to Phoenix for Christmas,” Charlie said, doodling random figures on the back of Rosalie’s hand, the black lines standing out against the pale skin. History class was boring as ever – or more so, their teacher was – but luckily, they had been allowed to work in pairs for the majority of the hour.

“Don’t you want to spend Christmas with your father?” Rosalie asked, watching on exasperatedly while Charlie added another swirl with a flick of her wrist.

“He’s invited to have dinner at the Black’s,” Charlie said with a shrug. “And I kind of miss my mom and sister. Apparently, my mom has found herself a new boyfriend, too, and I’d like to meet him.”

“Family is important,” Rosalie stated, her mind wandering off as she pulled her hand back.

“Yep,” Charlie nodded. “Very true.”

-x-

“Hells-Bells!” Charlie shouted loudly, grinning as her sister flustered, looking around at the people who were now plainly staring at her. Charlie had definitely missed being able to embarrass her sister at any given opportunity. Quickening her pace, Charlie soon found herself in front of the welcoming party and she immediately pulled Bella into a tight hug.

“Char! Honey, how are you doing?” her mom said, pulling her closer once Bella had managed to extract herself.

“I’m good,” Charlie laughed. “I missed you guys though, it has been way too long.”

“I agree,” her mom sighed. “Come on, let’s go outside. Phil is waiting with in the car, I can’t wait for you to meet him!”

-x-

“How does it feel, being back here?”

Charlie looked up from her place in the window seat of her room to find Bella standing in the doorway. She shifted to let her legs dangle down, patting the now empty space next to her, which Bella soon occupied. “It’s kind of weird, I’m not going to lie. Forks has always been a home to me, but now that I’ve actually _lived_ there… I don’t know, it feels even weirder being back here.

Thinking about Forks now came with a dull ache in her chest, as if there was a string connecting her to the place, pulling tight with distance.

“Do you think I would like it there?” Bella asked, surprising Charlie.

“I thought we’d talked about this, just because I want to uproot my life and-“

“No, it’s not about that,” Bella shook her head. “You’ve met Phil. He and Mom seem to be really serious about this entire thing that they’ve got going on. And I thought that maybe they would need and want some time to themselves…”

“Bella,” Charlie sighed. “I love you, but you can be a bit of an idiot sometimes. Yes, I do agree that Mom and Phil seem to have something going on. But I’m one hundred percent sure that if that’s the reason you want to move to Forks, Mom will literally hit that stupid idea out of your head, because it makes literally no sense.” Bella seemed to want to say something, but Charlie stopped her. “Nah-ah, hear me out. When Phil met Mom, he knew what he was signing up for. And that was a single mother with two daughters who are still very much a part of her life. You want to move to Forks because you want to spend more time with Dad? Go ahead. But don’t do it because of some twisted reason surrounding Mom’s relationship.”

It was silent for a moment before Bella spoke up. “I think you’re right.”

A grin spread across Charlie’s face. “Aren’t I always?”

-x-

“Rose!” Charlie shot up, having promptly accepted the FaceTime call that had popped up on her screen.

“Good afternoon to you,” Rosalie said, her lips quirking up into a small smile. “How are things going over there?”

“It’s great here,” Charlie answered, climbing up the stairs to go into her room for a bit more privacy. “I helped Mom and Bella to bake some Christmas cookies and Phil and I put up the last of the lights. How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” Rosalie said. “I did the last of my shopping with Emmett today.”

“Hmm,” Charlie nodded, falling back onto her unmade bed. “I finished yesterday, but it was absolute chaos in the mall. I’m glad I got my dad’s presents already, though it would’ve been too much of a hassle to bring Mom’s and Bella’s all the way from Forks.”

“What about that guy your mom’s seeing?” Rosalie asked. “Is he tolerable?”

Charlie thought for a moment before nodding resolutely. “He’s a good guy. A bit young, but different from the others Mom has dated before. I like him. He’s joining us for lunch on Christmas Day.”

“Good,” Rosalie said, tension easing out of her shoulders. “Did you tell you mom about- us?”

“Yep,” Charlie said, a stupid grin spreading across her face. “She’s even more excited about it than I am, which is saying something.”

“Your mom sounds like quite the character.”

Charlie chuckled. “She is, it’s been a lot of fun to spend time together again. Although I also kind of can’t wait to come back. I… I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

-x-

“Delivery for Charlie Swan?”

Charlie perked up, jumping up from the couch to find her way to the front door. Ignoring Phil’s surprised look, she accepted the small parcel from the girl, signing her name on the device she was handed. Back in the living room, she sat down in the chair next to their Christmas tree, not paying attention to the mess they had made when unpacking their presents that morning. Carefully she tore away the paper wrapped around the box. She looked for a sign from the sender, but she could not find a thing.

The last of the paper fell away, leaving her with a small black box. She pulled the lid up, her eyes widening as she put it next to her with a gasp, one hand reaching down into the box to retrieve the intricately braided leather bracelet it held

“Wow.”

Looking up, she saw her mom and Bella had entered the room as well, and she soon returned her eyes to the bracelet.

“Damn.”

Charlie carefully put it back down, frowning when she saw a piece of paper peeking out from underneath the fabric that had covered the bracelet. Lifting it up, a smile soon spread across her face, her free hand coming up to rub her chest without much thought.

“What is it?” Bella asked curiously.

“Guess who’s going to see Frozen II in Port Angeles?”

-x-

“Jojo!”

Without warning, Charlie launched herself into Joseph’s arms, who stumbled to catch her, finding grip on the door her had just pulled open to find her standing in front of it.

"Charlie?"

With a grin, Charlie pulled back, looking over her former dance partner. “It’s been a while!”

Joseph finally composed himself, a matching grin spreading across his face as he dragged Charlie back into a hug, wiggling her around. “You’re crazy, you know that? Damn, it’s been way too long, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending the day with Bella.”

“Change of plans,” Charlie shrugged. “And I decided to go on a walk. I need to burn all those calories from last week’s Christmas dinner somehow.”

Joseph snorted. “As if that’s necessary. It’s practically impossible for you to gain weight. Oh! Before I forget, I’ve got your present somewhere here.”

Charlie closed the door and followed Joseph into his living room. From a wooden cupboard against the wall he grabbed an envelope, turning around and holding it out for her to take

“Let’s switch,” Charlie said, smiling as she held out a similar present to him.

Joseph laughed. “Thanks, Char.” His eyes moved to her arm and he whistled, spotting the bracelet she was wearing. “Ooh damn, that shit looks expensive. Christmas present?”

“From my girlfriend,” Charlie answered, her smile growing even wider before her look turned pensive. “Talking about girlfriends, how are things with you and Bella? I haven’t heard much from her, to be honest.”

“We went on a few dates, but nothing really came from it,” Joseph said with a shrug. “We both decided this wasn’t really what we wanted.”

“That’s cool,” Charlie nodded. “Now, how about you show me the video of your new choreography? How is working with Nyah going?”

-x-

Charlie’s stomach sank when she read her dad’s text whilst waiting for her suitcase to appear on the baggage belt.

_I got called into work, I got someone else to pick you up. Message me when you arrive!_

From the corner of her eye she saw her bright green suitcase making its way over to her, and she quickly put her phone in her pocket. Stepping forward, she grabbed the handle and hoisted her suitcase from the belt, mentally going over the – quite short – list of people her dad could have called. She just crossed her fingers and secretly hoped it was not Jacob and Billy, because while she liked them, it would take at least three times longer than necessary to get back to Forks with the truck they drove around.

Charlie took a deep breath in and started walking out towards the arrival area, scanning around for a familiar face. What she saw – or more so, _who_ she saw, made her stop in her tracks for a second. Her face lit up and she continued walking at a faster pace.

“Rose!”

When she was close enough, she let go of her suitcase and threw her arms around Rosalie’s neck, pulling her in for a passionate kiss. At once the constant hollow ache that had accompanied her over the past two weeks faded away, being replaced by a feeling of warmth that slowly spread throughout her body.

“Hi,” Rosalie said quietly when they separated, eyes scanning Charlie, body visibly relaxing when she saw she had returned in one piece. “It has been a while.”

“I’m glad I’m back,” Charlie confessed, pecking Rosalie’s cheek once more before grabbing the handle of her suitcase. “Would you like to hang out today?”

“I’d love that.”

-x-

“Ooh damn, I like this place,” Charlie said, looking around curiously. The shelves lining the walls were filled with books of all shapes and sizes, both new and old. Little trinkets of different materials filled any empty spaces, pulling Charlie’s attention. She reached to pick one up and better inspect it, but stopped herself and pulled her hand back when she remembered that would most likely not go great. She could almost hear her mom shout ‘don’t touch anything in the shops’ and the sense of déjà vu erased any interest in touching breakable things that were not her property. It was much safer to look at the books instead.

“It’s pretty neat,” Leah nodded, browsing the shelves. “I got Christmas presents for my grandparents here last year. What was it you were looking for?”

“A random book Billy recommended to me last night,” Charlie said with a frown. “I don’t really know why he did it, but it seemed interesting enough. Besides I need to find a present for Jake too, it’s nearly his birthday.”

Leah snorted. “You’d be better off buying some random car part for him than a vague book.”

Charlie perked up. “That’s not even that much of a bad idea. But I have absolutely no idea what gift to give a mechanical-y person.”

“Maybe your dad can help?” Leah suggested, pulling a book off the shelf and rifling through the pages.

“Nah,” Charlie said, scrunching her nose. “He’s just as bad as I am. Oh! Of course, I’m a dumbass!”

“What?”

“Rose is a mechanic,” Charlie said, her eyes wide in realization. “She loves to do car stuff, she would totally know something like this! I’m going to send her a message.”

Charlie pulled her phone out of her back pocket and started typing out a message, hitting send and putting it away. “Anyway, where were we?”

"You were looking for that book," Leah reminded her.

"Oh right."

Holding up the book she held in her hands, Leah smiled. “No need to look any further, though. I found it.”

-x-

“What has you looking so glum?”

Charlie looked up to see her dad and sighed, sagging into the comfy chair where she was seated, her legs slung across the arm. “I got that book Billy was so insistent on that I would like, but it’s just confusing me. Why on Earth would he think I’m exceptionally interested in a bunch of tribal myths and stories? I mean, sure, it’s somewhat interesting, but I’m not much of a reader to begin with. Why would I read old stuff like this for fun?”

Her dad walked over with a frown, taking the book that Charlie held out to him. “That’s kind of weird.”

“I know, right?”

“I have no idea why Billy did that,” her dad said with a shake of his head, giving the book back after having briefly inspected it. “I mean, he’ll probably have a reason for it, but I have no idea what that is.”

“Maybe I’ll never know,” Charlie said, blowing out a deep breath that made the hair that covered her forehead fly up. “Anyway. I’m done for the day. Are you ready to go to cooking class?”

-x-

“Rose! Are you okay?” Charlie asked, worried.

 _“I’m alright,”_ Rosalie said. _“I’m not feeling great today, but I hope I’ll be better by tomorrow.”_

“Should I come over?” Charlie asked, wiping away the dust that had collected in her windowsill. “I could even bring you soup, or something. We learned how to make some fancy sort in our last class, and mine was definitely the best.”

She could hear Rosalie laugh. _“No, it’s probably better if you stayed away for the time being, I’d rather not make you sick. And while the offer is very sweet, soup isn’t necessary. Really, I’ll be fine.”_

Charlie sighed, looking out at the backyard, where her dad was trying to repair the old bike that had been rusting in the shed for way too long. It was one of the rare sunny days out in rainy Forks, which made that it was ever so slightly warmer outside today. “History sucked without you.”

_“No one to doodle on?”_

“Exactly,” Charlie said, nodding and sitting back onto her bed, not watching out as she flopped down right onto one of the books that she had thrown there out of laziness. Grimacing, she scooted over to get the book out from under her butt, picking it up. “The only reason why we’re even together. I need someone who can be the canvas of my terrible doodles. What would I do without you?”

 _“Die from boredom,”_ Rosalie quickly rebutted.

Charlie snorted, eyes flickering down to the book in her hands. A frown slowly crept up her face when she saw a small bookmark peeking out from in between the pages. Flipping it open, her gaze landed on a gruesome image of some red-eyed creature. “Right. Well, you’re missing out on a fun sunny day today, that’s kind of sucky.”

 _“I’m not a big fan of the sun either way,”_ Rosalie answered.

Charlie laughed, absentmindedly scanning the words on the page. “You don’t like the sun, you’re cold to the touch _and_ you’re extremely pale? Are you by any chance” – her eyes landed on a boldly printed word – “a vampire?”

Rosalie let out a chuckle, but it did not sit right with Charlie, who was still staring at that one page. _“Weirdo. I have got to go, though. Esme asked me to give my opinion on a few designs she had been working on.”_

“Well, take care,” Charlie said, clearing her throat. “It was good to hear your voice. I hope you’ll feel better soon!”

_"Me too."_

-x-

“You look awfully thoughtful.”

Charlie jumped, slamming her head into the opened door of her locker. Wincing, she rubbed her head and came back up, eyes finding those of Rosalie.

They were yellow. Golden, more so.

“Are you alright?” Rosalie asked, hand touching the sore spot on Charlie’s head.

“’m fine,” Charlie mumbled, sighing in relief. “But keep your hand there, it’s nice and cold.”

“You wish,” Rosalie said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not going to keep my hand attached to your head for God knows how long. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the nurse?”

“Nah,” Charlie said, pouting when Rosalie retracted her hand. “I’ll be fine. I didn’t hit my head _that_ hard.”

“Would you like to come over after school today? Esme baked pie yesterday.”

“I can’t, I’m sorry,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “It’s Jake’s birthday, I’m going over with my dad.”

Rosalie shrugged. “That’s alright. Did you manage to find him a present?”

-x-

“Wow!” Jake exclaimed. “This is awesome, Char, thanks!”

“No problem,” Charlie said with a grin, watching as Jacob inspected the magnetic wristband and the tools she had gifted him. She still had no idea what any of them could be used for, but Jacob seemed to like them, and she silently thanked Rosalie for her insights. “Now, where’s the cake?”

Jacob laughed and took her into the kitchen, where he got her a big slice of cake, serving himself as well. “How’re things going for you?”

“Pretty good,” Charlie smiled. “School is doable, dance is getting more exhausting and more fun, and I’ve been hanging out with Rose a lot.”

“Hmm right,” Jacob said, nodding, taking a bit of his cake. “Your girlfriend? She’s a Cullen, right?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said slowly, inspecting Jake’s face. “I mean, her surname is Hale, but she is a part of the Cullen family. What is it that you people have against the Cullens? Every single time I mention any of them around here, there’s at least one person who looks at me like I’m disgusting for even saying their names.”

Jacob shrugged. “There’s this story about my ancestors meeting the Cullens before, as wolves. Only the story goes that several of the Cullens that live here now, are the same ones of a century ago, just with different names. That they haven’t aged a day because they’re immortal. I don’t know about it though, I’ve always thought it was kind of messed up, targeting one random family.”

“Oh right,” Charlie said. “Leah told me something like that a while back. Anyway, I’m happy you don’t have a vendetta against my girlfriend. She helped me to pick out your present.”

“Really?” Jake asked, surprised. “She’s a mechanic? That’s kind of awesome.”

“ _She_ is kind of awesome,” Charlie said with a dreamy smile.

“Ugh,” Jake said, face contorting. “Don’t go and get all sappy now. I’m going to the garage, want to come?”

"Sure!"

-x-

“Watcha doing?”

Charlie jumped, quickly closing the site she was browsing through before looking at her dad who stood in the doorway. “Nothing.”

Her dad raised a brow, but did not comment. “Are you free to go fishing coming Saturday?”

“I’ve got a date with Rose,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “We’re going to the movies.”

“Oh, that’s right,” her dad said. “What about Sunday?”

Charlie smiled. “That should work.”

-x-

Charlie’s heart beat high in her chest. She bounced on her feet, trying to dispel of the nervous energy, but her heart did not want to calm down. Every few seconds, her hand drifted to her front pocket, making sure the folded piece of paper was still in there.

What on Earth was she doing?

Worrying her lip between her teeth, Charlie kept her eyes on the street, watching through the glass panel of the front door. It was not long before the familiar red car drove into the street, and Charlie took a deep breath, opening the door and stepping outside, wincing as a drop of rain splashed right into her neck. Pulling up her hood, she walked to the end of the driveway, climbing inside the car that was now parked at the side of the street.

“Hey,” Rosalie said.

“Hi,” Charlie responded, giving her a tight smile as she fastened her seatbelt.

Rosalie frowned, and Charlie could feel the golden gaze burning into the side of her head. “Are you alright?”

“Mm,” Charlie nodded. “I’m fine.”

Rosalie did not look convinced, but started the car anyway and drove down the street.

They spend a few minutes in silence, which was not unusual, however this time the air was charged, and not in a good way. Finally, Rosalie had had enough. “What is wrong?” Charlie opened her mouth, but Rosalie continued, “And don’t say you are fine, because something is obviously wrong.”

“I,” Charlie started. “I think we have to talk.”

Rosalie tensed, the grip on the wheel tightening and Charlie immediately regretted her choice of words. “No, shit, not like that! I mean, this stuff is quite serious, but I don’t want to break up or something.”

“Alright,” Rosalie said with a nod, relaxing slightly. “What is it you want to talk about?”

Charlie licked her lips, trying to find a way to best start a conversation like this one. Then she decided to do what she did best. Jump into the pool of uncertainty and watch if she would drown.

"You're Rosalie Hale."

“Yes,” Rosalie slowly said, frowning. “I’m quite sure you have known that for a while now.”

“I-“ Charlie started. “I read something that reminded me of you and your siblings. I guess I’ve always known you guys are somewhat different from everyone else, but then I read this book that Billy recommended to me, and well, I think you might not be who you say you are.”

Rosalie tensed up once more, sitting stiffly. “What are you implying?”

Charlie pulled the page out of her pocket, unfolding it, smoothing out the creases before summing up the words she had highlighted with a neon yellow marker. “Extremely pale, cold, hard skin, never seen out in the sun, bloodthirst – well, I don’t know about that, but I’ve never seen you eat, nor any of your family. And your parents are not that much older than you, and you don’t seem to see them as parents. The only one that does not seem to fit is the- the red eyes.”

Charlie glanced sideways, watching as Rosalie was now breathing heavily. “That does not have to mean anything.”

“No,” Charlie whispered, sensing Rosalie’s mood. “But this does.”

From her other pocket, she pulled a page with a small, printed black and white picture straight out of a newspaper. A picture of a girl, her clothes and stance different, her face and features forever frozen.

_Rosalie Lillian Hale_

Cold fingers carefully took the picture from her hand.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing Rosalie said.

Charlie looked up, surprised. “What for?”

“I- You,” Rosalie started. “You should have been told earlier. Or it should have never even come to the point where you got this curious. I have no idea how we stayed together for this long, it shouldn’t be possible.”

“I mean, I figured you had secrets,” Charlie softly said. “And I figured they were important to you, for either your safety, or maybe mine. It wasn’t until Billy said something – and trust me, I’m going to have a long talk to him about minding his own business – that I started looking.”

"Animal blood," Rosalie said.

"What?"

“You wondered why my eyes aren’t red. It’s because we- hunt animals. Not…”

“Humans,” Charlie finished in a whisper. “I already couldn’t place that part.”

"And you're right about safety," Rosalie nodded.

"I am?"

“We have a government of sorts,” Rosalie said. “In Italy. And there’s two rules.”

“Let me guess,” Charlie sighed. “One of them is that I’m not supposed to know?”

“Exactly. If they find out, it’s a question of vampirism or death.”

“Damn,” Charlie whispered.

“And that is not something I wish upon anyone. Least of all you.”

Charlie looked up at Rosalie, who was looking drained. After a moment of silence, she said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

“You don’t want to head back?” Rosalie sounded almost surprised.

“No?” Charlie said, hesitantly. “Unless you want to? I thought it would be good to talk a bit more, and I always find things like that easier when you can walk alongside the other.”

“I know a trail through the forest nearby,” Rosalie said, slowing down the car. “Unless you would prefer to walk around the city?”

“The forest is good,” Charlie answered, a soft smile on her face. “There’s still a few hours to go until the movie starts. We’ll just grab something quick to eat. Or, I will, I guess.”

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For giving me a chance.”

-x-

Although she tried to hide it, for Rosalie’s sake, Charlie could not help but let a few tears slip. Softly wiping them away with her sleeve, she inhaled deeply and kept on walking.

The starting time of the movie neared and passed and they kept hiking up the trail, talking, telling, listening in silence.

When they finally arrived back in the parking lot, Charlie’s ears were freezing cold, but she ignored their numbness and instead hunched deeper into the scarf Rosalie had given her when the temperature had dropped. _The cold doesn’t bother me_ , she’d said, and Charlie had not even wanted to make some bad joke about it.

Rosalie was making her way over to the driver’s side of the lone car, yet Charlie stopped her and pulled her into a hug. The words she had been wanting to say escaped her, and instead she tried to pour all her love into the show of affection. Her mind was reeling with new information, with all the vampire 101, but her main focus was on everything that had happened leading up to Rosalie’s transformation.

Whilst Rosalie relaxed slightly, returning the hug, Charlie could practically feel a wall being built back up. She did not know what she could do to prevent that from happening; even she recognized it as a coping mechanism.

 _We don’t change_ and _frozen in time_ echoed through her head, and she could not help but wonder if that applied to a person’s mindset as well. And the trauma.

Charlie could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to be brutally pulled from the life she knew, thrown into another in the blink of an eye. After _three days of agony and wanting to die._

 _I begged them,_ Rosalie had told her. _I begged them to end my life, but no one had mercy. It wasn’t just the physical pain._

It was the mental pain as well, Charlie understood.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” she said, her voice muffled. “But I’m sorry. No one had the right to act the way they did. Not… _him_ , but not Carlisle either, no matter how good his intentions were.”

Rosalie inhaled sharply.

If someone asked Charlie how long they stood there, the wind blowing around them, slowly numbing every part of her body as they were caught up in their embrace, she could not give them an answer.

-x-

“Is-“ Rosalie started, looking out at the dark house the car was parked in front of. “Would you like me to leave you alone?”

Charlie’s heart stopped beating for a second. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I say,” Rosalie said, her voice emotionless, but her physical tells told another story entirely. “Would you like me to leave you alone from now on?”

Charlie moved her hand to Rosalie’s jaw, but Rosalie did not look her in the eyes. Steeling her resolve, she unbuckled herself and clumsily climbed into Rosalie’s lap, knees on either side of Rosalie’s legs, hand cupping the cold face. Golden eyes finally locked with her own, and Charlie could see the vulnerability in them. Her heart tightened, a string pulling around it. _No wonder,_ a voice whispered in the back of her mind, _no wonder that she despises being vulnerable, showing weakness._

“Listen to me,” Charlie said in a whisper. “Is this a lot to take in? Yes. Do I need time to process everything? Definitely. But do I want to let you go? Not for the life of me, Rose, I- I _love_ you, okay?” Ignoring the sharp intake of breath, she continued. “I think I have for a while now. And while you kept secrets from me, I understand why you did so, and you never lied to me. I don’t want to break up with you, Rose, I want to continue this, you, me, _us._ If things don’t work out in the end, that’s cool, we can decide things then, because even I can see the difficulties of our relationship. But now? I want to spend lots and lots of time with you. _Please_ don’t leave me now.”

A tear slowly rolled down Charlie’s cheek, and she pressed her own over-heated forehead against Rosalie’s.

“Char,” Rosalie whispered, her voice breaking. “I won’t. I love you t-“

Charlie smashed her lips into Rosalie’s, her arms wrapping around the cold neck, pulling them impossibly closer.

No way she was ever letting this go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there my lovelies, I hope you're all doing A-OK :) I decided to proofread & post another part today, so here you go! I added lots of angst to this part, I hope you can all appreciate that, of course. I have like, 0 motivation these days, so I'm happy to have finished another part lol. Thanks for all your lovely comments, I really appreciate them! If you have some time, send me another one? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Yes? You are amazing :) Have a great day!  
> \- Laura


	5. Part 5

“Charlie?”

Charlie blinked, lifting her head off the back of the couch as she shook herself out of the haze that had here floating somewhere between asleep and awake.

“Are you okay?” Her dad sounded concerned, and walked around the couch to take a seat next to her. “I didn’t wait up, when did you come back?”

“Eleven,” Charlie croaked out, rubbing her eyes. She shivered and pulled up the quilt that lay in her lap, trying to find some warmth.

“Is everything alright? You look like you haven’t slept at all.”

Charlie sighed. “I didn’t.”

Her dad inspected her face, probably trying to understand what was going on. “Wait, you and Rosalie-“

“Oh God no,” Charlie shook her head, at least awake enough to know the answer to that question. “No, we’re still together. It’s just… we talked. A lot. About some things that are quite personal. And upsetting. We didn’t end up going to the movies, and I couldn’t sleep when I got back home.”

“Do you-” her dad started. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Charlie plucked at the quilt. “I can’t.”

“Please let me know if there’s anything I can do,” he said. “I love you, and I’m here for you, Char. Just… just make sure you’re safe, alright?”

Charlie swallowed. “I’ll try.”

“Let’s stay home today,” her dad decided. “The weather isn’t too good for fishing anyway. Would you like some coffee? Or tea?”

“Tea, please,” Charlie said, conjuring up a watery smile. “Thanks.”

-x-

“Rose? What are you doing here?”

Charlie had just opened the front door to go grab her bike and make her way to school, but instead of an empty porch, she had found her girlfriend.

“Alice said you still weren’t feeling well,” Rosalie said. “I thought I’d pick you up.”

Charlie blinked. She was definitely not used to the idea of the _gifts_ of Rosalie’s siblings yet. “Thank you.”

The car ride to school was spent in pensive silence, which Charlie did not mind at all. At school they split paths after a quick kiss, both moving to their respective classes. Soon Charlie found herself a seat in the back of the English classroom and sat down with a sigh, crossing her arms on the table and laying her head down.

“Are you okay?”

Charlie lifted her head and saw Meghan was now sitting next to her. Conjuring up a small smile, she nodded. “Yeah. I’m just tired.”

“Alright. Cass and I were talking, we thought it’d be nice to go out to Port Angeles on Friday,” Meghan said, leaning closer. “Would you like to come?”

Charlie thought for a moment, before shrugging. “Sure, why not.”

Meghan’s face lit up. “Awesome! We’ll work out the details through WhatsApp.”

Charlie slowly sat back up in her chair as they started talking about some new developments in the small town of Forks, relaxing her tense shoulders. After the weekend she had had, she was in desperate need of a distraction like this.

-x-

“Are you doing alright?” was asked for the hundredth time that day. This time by Frances, who came back from the canteen with an ice pack wrapped in a kitchen towel.

Charlie took the package from her, pressing it on her knee with a wince. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, I just twisted it, but it hurts like a bitch.”

“You’re not fully present today,” Frances noted, motioning for the others to continue the exercise.

Charlie pursed her lips. “I know, I’m sorry. There’s just some… stuff on my mind right now that I have to work through. I didn’t mean for it to affect my performance though.”

Frances smiled. “It’s almost inevitable. It’s not easy to let your mind go and let your body move when you’re preoccupied.”

“Yes,” Charlie sighed, switching so her other hand was now pressing on the ice pack.

“I think it’s best if you sit out for today,” Frances said. “You need to rest that knee, we don’t want it getting worse, and you need some time to think, I believe.”

Charlie wanted to protest, but even she knew Frances was right. “Okay.”

-x-

“Me and Bella started dance at the same time,” Charlie said with a grin, vaguely remembering her mom’s short-lived obsession with ballet. “I was a bit too young, and my sister was definitely too little to even try or understand some of the things we did there. She quit once my Mom figured that out, but I really wanted to stay.”

Cass snorted, leaning back in the booth of the small restaurant they had found when they were done roaming the streets of Port Angeles. “I tried dance once when I was much older, and I was terrible at it. I can’t even move somewhat nicely, let alone remember a choreography.”

“I did ballet for a few years,” Anna said, taking a sip of her coke. “Then I tried out for volleyball with my brother, that was definitely more my thing.”

The server came along with their – admittedly not that healthy – meals and they dug in, sharing few words as they quelled their hunger.

Charlie grinned, taking another bite of her burger, enjoying the easy atmosphere of the night. It was the right kind of distraction that she had been craving, and it was lessening the weight that had been pressing down on her heart and mood for the past week.

“I need your opinion,” Meghan said, pushing her empty plate away.

Anna raised a brow. “Please do tell.”

“I want to ask Luke out,” Meghan confessed, earning herself a squeal from Cass. “But I don’t know how. I thought I’d wait for him to ask me, but then I remembered I can do it myself.”

“I say it’s an awesome idea,” Charlie said, wiping the grease of her fingers with the paper napkin. “He has been looking at you a lot.

Anna nodded in agreement.

“What are you planning on doing?” Cass asked.

“Well, that’s what I hoped to get your opinion on,” Meghan said, leaning forward. “Especially you, Char, you’re the one with all the experience here.”

Charlie wiggled her brows. “Ooh, how many of the details would you like to hear?”

Meghan slapped her arm with a laugh. “You pervert! I need your help wooing Luke so he goes out on a date with me, not getting into his pants. Although, that would be a nice bonus.”

“He is handsome,” Charlie nodded, earning confused looks that made her sigh. “Oh, come on guys, just because I’m gay it doesn’t mean I’m blind.”

“Sorry,” Anna said, smiling apologetically. “Now, Megs, what do you want to know? Maybe we should make a plan?”

“I think I have an idea,” Charlie said with a grin.

-x-

“Rose!” Charlie ran full speed towards her girlfriend. When the latter turned around, she jumped into her arms and pulled her in for a lingering kiss, surprising Rosalie.

“Good morning,” Charlie said, eyes sparkling as she pulled back.

“Good morning to you too,” Rosalie replied, raising her brows. “Did you enjoy your weekend? What did I do to deserve a welcome like this?”

“I just had some time to think over the weekend,” Charlie smiled, shrugging. “And I came to the conclusion that none of it really matters anyway. Well, it matters, but it shouldn’t hold me back from doing the things I want to do. I’ve always been someone to live in the present.”

The weight that Charlie had felt on her shoulders was gone, and she could see Rosalie’s eyes lighten up as well. Their relationship might be unconventional, but it was _theirs_. Sure, there were things to work through, and they would have to sit down and talk about the future someday, they could not ignore that, but for now they should be able to enjoy each other.

Together, hand in hand, they made their way over to History class, where the teacher appeared to have planned to watch a movie. Scooting her chair over, Charlie leaned her head on Rosalie’s shoulder, glad for their spot in the back of the dark room.

The knot in her chest finally untangled, a warmth slowly blooming in her chest.

-x-

“Hello,” Esme said with a smile, letting Charlie in through the door. “How are you doing?”

Charlie shrugged out of her coat, hanging it on the coatrack as she toed her sneakers off. “I’m good!”

“Wonderful! Rosalie is in the garage, you should be able to find her there. If you want anything to eat, just let me know.”

“Thanks Esme,” Charlie nodded. “I’ll be off then!”

After having spent quite a bit of time in the Cullen house (or should she say mansion?) she knew somewhat where she could find the different rooms. Not that she spent much time in any place other than Rose’s room and the garage, mind you. However, Alice had been nice enough to give her a full house tour when she came over again after being ‘in the know’, which was helpful. When she had asked if many people came over, Alice had shaken her head.

_“Carlisle hosts dinners at times, but only if necessary. We don’t generally show people around the house, especially since Jasper and I share a room. That isn’t really normal to most people.”_

Charlie had slowly warmed up to Rose’s family, even though it was still a bit awkward at times when she was left alone with any of them. When Jasper had openly outed his concerns about his troubles with bloodlust, Charlie had shaken it off. If that guy (man? shit, this was confusing) could spend days on end walking around a school with a few hundred kids, she trusted him not to snap and take a bite out of her. Besides, it was not as if she was planning on bleeding out right in front of him, even less so without any others around to stop him from snacking.

Currently Charlie was regretting her decision to leave her shoes at the door as she felt the cold from the concrete garage floor seep through her dinosaur socks. Being too lazy to go back, she tried to ignore it instead, and moved along the cars to find Rosalie hidden beneath Emmett’s jeep, wearing overalls covered with grease, music playing softly in the background.

“Hey!”

All she got was a mumbled response, and Charlie chuckled, finding herself an empty spot on the workbench that sat against the wall, climbing up on it. Watching Rosalie work was one of her favorite things to do, not that she would ever openly admit it. It should be boring, sitting down and watching – especially for someone with endless energy like Charlie – but it was actually fascinating. She herself did not know a single thing about cars, and the way that Rosalie easily detected a problem, or pulled something apart only to put it back together in a matter of minutes, was amazing. And just a tiny bit sexy. Just a bit.

Finally, Rosalie crawled out from underneath the car, taking the tools with her. She wiped her hands on the front of her overalls, before making her way over to the sink in the corner to properly wash them. Charlie hopped off the workbench, following Rosalie and pulling her in for a kiss.

“Hey again,” Charlie grinned, wiping a smudge of grease off of Rosalie’s face. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m alright,” Rosalie answered, raising a brow. “I thought you had to dance today?”

“Frances is sick,” Charlie said with a shrug. “There wasn’t enough time to find a substitute and they cancelled the lesson. I thought I’d come and visit.”

“Well, I don’t mind,” Rosalie said. “Do you want to go inside?”

“Only if you’re done here,” Charlie answered. “I don’t mind waiting.”

Rosalie shook her head. “I can finish this another day. It is not as if I will run out of time.”

The innocent remark struck Charlie hard, as it echoed through her head with the unspoken addition of _but you will_. Shaking it off, Charlie smiled instead. “Good, let’s go inside then. Do you need to take a shower?”

“I’ll do that later,” Rosalie said, moving towards the door that lead them back into the house. “I’ll just go and change. Was there anything in specific you’d like to do?”

Charlie shrugged. “Let’s go to your room?”

It was quiet upstairs – probably due to the insulation, she had learned during Alice’s tour – and Charlie leisurely followed Rosalie. Seating herself on the bed, she fished her phone out of her back pocket and dropped it onto the nightstand, picking up the book that lay there to leaf through it. _Guide to Child Development and Pedagogy_ , it said.

“Are you stealing my books now?”

Charlie looked up to see Rosalie walking back out of the walk-in closet whilst pulling a red jumper over her head. Cocking a brow at Charlie’s lack of response, she carefully pulled her hair out of the back of the collar.

Charlie shook herself out of her Rosalie-induced haze and smiled, looking back down. “Nah, I was just curious.”

“Do you want kids?” 

Surprised, she lifted her head. “I don’t know, I suppose I’ve never really thought about it too much. What are your thoughts on them?”

Rosalie sat down on the bed next to Charlie closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.

“Are you alright?”

“It was my biggest dream,” Rosalie spoke softly, and Charlie could hear the underlying struggle, even as she let out a choked laugh. “Ironic, really. All I wanted was to marry, to grow old together, and be a mother. I was envious of my friend, Vera, who already had a beautiful son. Emmett- Did I tell you that Emmett reminded me of him, when I found him? No matter what Emmett tells you about his change, it was gruesome, but I was selfish. Even though I despised this life, I could not bring myself to let him die.”

“Emmett loves it,” Charlie said softly, scooting closer to Rosalie. “He loves this life, and he loves you.”

Rosalie looked down at her. “That is the only thing that even remotely makes me think that I did the right thing back then. Either way, the irony of everything I ever wanted being taken away is there. I can live forever, but I can never have the things I want most. Stuck as a teenager, still practically a child myself.”

Charlie slung her arms around Rosalie, pulling her against her own body, letting her warmth seep into Rosalie’s skin. “I love you, you know.”

After a few silent seconds, Rosalie spoke up. “I love you too.”

“Have you ever thought of going into teaching, or foster care, or something like that?”

Surprised, Rosalie looked her in the eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Charlie said, shifting a bit. “It wouldn’t be the same as being a mother, obviously, but you could work with children? There are lots of jobs out there that give you the opportunity to do that. Besides, you could easily pass as someone in her twenties.”

“Don’t you think my so-called natural vampire abilities would hinder any of that? People are pulled in by me, but they can still sense my unnaturalness. Children even more so.”

“Rose,” Charlie started, sitting up on her knees and looking Rosalie into the eye. “If it’s not what you want, I get that, but if you’d like to try it, don’t let some petty excuse hold you back. There is always a solution to the problems you come across, you just have to look for it at times. Besides, haven’t you noticed how no one at school is uncomfortable around you?” At Rosalie’s pointed look, she corrected, “Well, they are uncomfortable, but it isn’t because they feel like a prey or something twisted like that. They are uncomfortable because you and your family keep a distance, and you are a bit harsh at times.”

“Are you sure?” Rosalie asked, looking doubtful.

“Yes!” Charlie said, exasperated. “Don’t you think Carlisle would’ve been some hated doctor if he made people feel that way? You guys do everything to try to appear and act more human, and you’re not doing that for nothing! Trust me, I’d have known if you gave any of my friends creepy feelings. They love to talk, and they’re very open about things like that.”

Rosalie sat back, her eyes flickering away from Charlie’s face as she sunk into deep thought.

“Don’t you see, Rose?” Charlie continued. “If you keep telling yourself you can’t do something, you’ll never even try.”

Rosalie’s gaze returned to Charlie with a light of realization. “Why haven’t I thought of this before?”

Charlie smiled. “That’s what you have me for.”

-x-

“What’s on tonight?” Charlie asked her dad, throwing her bad on the small coffee table before flopping down on the couch and undoing the laces of her boots.

“Football,” her dad answered, nodding to the television where the news was playing. “You’re right on time, it’ll start in a few minutes.”

“Good,’ Charlie grinned, leaving her boots underneath the table and leaning back, throwing her feet up. “Did you order the pizza?”

“Of course!” her dad said, sounding offended. “Who do you think I am?”

“Alright, alright,” Charlie answered, holding her hands up. “Calm down, I was just checking.”

Her dad grunted in response, his focus returning to the screen as the game started. Charlie quieted down and watched the players running around. The sound of a notification pulled her attention away from the game, and she frowned, looking down to see her dad’s phone laying on the couch between them. Her eyes widened when she read the text the lit-up screen provided.

“You have a date?”

Her dad shot up as if her had been hit. “Wait, what? Where did you hear that?”

“Your date just sent you a message,” Charlie said, raising her brows. “I can’t help it if you leave your phone out for everyone to see. Who’s Sarah?”

Her dad coughed, scratching his neck uncomfortably. “She’s a detective from Port Angeles, we met at a work party a while back.”

“Ooh,” Charlie said, full-on grinning. “Wooing the women at work now, are we? Tell me more!”

-x-

“Would you like to have dinner here, or are you expected at home?” Esme asked like always when Charlie came down to the kitchen to grab herself a snack.

“I’d love to have dinner here,” Charlie said through a mouth full of cookie crumbs. “I can fix myself something?”

“Nonsense,” Esme shooed her, almost looking insulted. “I would love to cook for you!”

“That’s really cool of you, thanks,” Charlie said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to impose or anything.”

“Esme loves to cook,” Carlisle said as he entered the kitchen, a leather bag in his hand. “Good evening, love.”

The sappiest smile spread across Charlie’s face when the two looked at each other and shared a quick kiss.

“And good evening to you, Charlie,” Carlisle remarked. “How are you doing today? And how is the Chief?”

“I’m good,” Charlie nodded. “As is my dad. He has a date tonight, so I snuck out and left him alone. He’s been worrying about what to wear all afternoon, it was getting on my nerves.”

“Well, again, I’d love to make you dinner tonight,” Esme said. “I’ve been wanting to try this recipe I saw on the cooking channel the other day. Oh! Any allergies I should know about?”

“You’re safe as long as you stay away from white fish,” Charlie shrugged. “Thanks again!”

“We love having you around,” Carlisle remarked, putting his bag onto the table and shrugging out of his jacket. “We have never seen Rosalie this- well, anything before. It does us good to see her enjoying something again.”

Charlie’s cheeks flushed, and she shifted awkwardly. “Well, I enjoy spending time here. Anyway, I should probably go back upstairs, Rose is waiting and all that.”

Rosalie looked a mixture of exasperated and happy when Charlie walked into her room. “Aren’t they fun?”

“They’re sweet,” Charlie protested, closing the door. “They’ve been together for what? A century? And they’re still in love? I mean, I wouldn’t call myself too much of a romantic person, but damn, that’s cute.”

Rosalie snorted. “Well, they’re mates, I don’t think they could have stayed together this long if that wasn’t the case.”

“Mates?” Charlie asked, raising a brow as she flopped onto the bed. “Like Australians being besties, or more like soulmates?”

“The latter,” Rosalie said slowly, rolling her eyes before realization dawned on her. “Wait, did I not tell you about this?”

“No,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “Please explain?”

“It’s a type of bond,” Rosalie started. “Like how we can create familial bonds with each other. Only, this bond is somewhat predetermined. Usually when two vampires meet their mate, they know it immediately.”

“So,” Charlie drawled, her brows knitting together. “You don’t have a choice?”

“I don’t think that’s the right way to put it,” Rosalie said, shaking her head. “It’s more so that your… nature, or your heart or soul, if you want to be romantic, chooses for you. A perfect fit.”

Charlie stared. “Oh.”

“Vampires generally feel a pull towards each other from that first moment,” Rosalie added.

Without thinking, Charlie’s hand raised up to rub at her chest, where she could often feel that dull ache. It pulled Rosalie’s attention, who frowned at the action.

“Like a string?”

“What?” Rosalie said.

“I asked if the pull is like a string.” 

Rosalie’s eyes shot up to meet Charlie’s. “You… know what it feels like?”

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded. “It’s usually there. Not now though. Oh. _Oh._ Shit.”

Rosalie watched her for a few seconds, eyes wide. “I did not know humans could feel the pull.”

Charlie swallowed. “Wait, so, what you mean is-“

“I believe you are my mate,” Rosalie said. “Well, I know you are, but I did not think it was- _mutual_. Since you are human.”

“Shit,” Charlie said with wide eyes, before stumbling over her words to reassure Rosalie. “I mean, I know I love you and all that jazz, but soulmates? Damn, that’s next level.”

They sat in pensive silence for a few minutes.

“Would you mind if I asked Carlisle to take a look at you?” Rosalie spoke up. “I know you are not really a fan of doctors, but I have no idea what the long-term effects of the pull could be on you. We feel it, and it hurts, but it can in no way physically damage us, since our organs are frozen.

“Alright,” Charlie conceded, sensing Rosalie’s worry. “It can’t do any harm.”

-x-

“Ouch,” Charlie muttered, pouting as Carlisle extracted the needle from her skin. “That hurt.”

“Don’t be such a wussy,” Rosalie said, rolling her eyes.

“You don’t get to say that,” Charlie said, sticking her tongue out as she swung her legs off the examination table. “If I try to stick a needle into you, the needle will break.”

Rosalie shrugged. “One of the few advantages of being a vampire.”

Charlie sighed and looked around the examination room. She definitely was not a fan of hospitals, but if this made Rosalie feel better, she did not mind doing it. And it got her out of gym class today, so that was fun. Having an appointment with an ER doctor had felt kind of weird at first, however, none of the nurses had appeared surprised. Rosalie later explained Carlisle was often called in to do several different jobs next to being an ER doctor slash surgeon.

“Do I smell good?” Charlie suddenly asked, speaking a fleeting thought out loud.

Rosalie looked at her weirdly. “What do you mean?” 

“Well,” Charlie said, cocking her head. “Carlisle just took my blood and you’re a blood drinking vampire, so I was wondering if I smell tasty?”

“You were wondering if you _smell tasty_?”

“Well, yeah,” Charlie shrugged. “Is that a weird question? Oh. Wait. It is.” A beat of silence passed. “I’m still curious though.”

Rosalie sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. “You smell alright. I’ve spent enough time around you that I’m kind of desensitized to it.”

“I smell _alright_?”

Rosalie raised a brow. “Are you seriously offended right now?”

“I mean,” Charlie got out. “Yes!”

Rosalie sat back into her chair with a groan.

-x-

“Rose is right,” Emmett nodded, his eyes focused on the television screen as his thumbs moved rapidly over the controller.

“I don’t smell good at all?” Charlie asked, frowning.

“I mean, you still smell somewhat edible,” Emmett said, grinning when it earned him a growl from Rosalie who was reading a book in the armchair in the far corner of the living room. “But it’s not like I want to take a bite out of you.”

“Why not?”

Rosalie let her book fall to her lap and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Are you seriously encouraging us to want to drink your blood?”

“I mean, no?” Charlie backtracked with a small innocent smile. “But human blood is still appetizing to you, so why isn’t mine?”

“Well, say you’d go to a restaurant where they sell you like, burgers or something,” Emmett said, finally tearing his gaze away from the game, which had just ended.

“Yeah?”

“You’re hungry and you come in and smell all the food, yeah?”

Charlie hummed.

“Do you want to walk over to that person in the corner to take a bite out of their burger?”

“No,” Charlie slowly said.

“Why not?” Emmett asked, his grin growing wider.

Charlie huffed. “Because it would be very impolite to steal someone’s food?”

“Exactly!” Emmett said, patting Charlie’s head as if she was some sort of dog. “We don’t take a bite out of you guys because it would be terribly impolite. And then there’s the entire ethical part to it too, but you know, let’s not go into that. And then there’s the fact that you are definitely a salad to us in this story, you just smell way less appetizing in general.”

Charlie blinked. “That was the worst metaphor ever.”

Emmett pouted. “No, it wasn’t.”

“It definitely was,” Rosalie interrupted with a loud sigh. “Seriously Emmett? It would be _impolite_ to eat a human?”

“I do agree!” Alice danced into the room, the trail of her bright yellow sundress floating behind her. Charlie raised her brows and Alice smiled, coming to a stop next to the couch. “But if you want a serious answer to your question, Carlisle thinks you don’t smell exceptionally good to us in a food-type way because you’re Rose’s mate. A natural defense mechanism against any hostile vampires that might pass by, if you will.”

Charlie froze before turning around to Emmett and Rosalie. “And you guys didn’t think to just tell me that?”

Alice’s eyes twinkled as she sprung back into motion and made her way to the kitchen. “And everyone says _I_ am ominous!”

-x-

“Your progress is amazing,” Frances told Charlie as the others slowly trickled back into the changing room, leaving them behind. “You recovered much faster than I had anticipated. Have you thought about getting a few more hours in?”

“I did!” Charlie nodded. She could not help a smile from spreading across her face. “I talked with my parents too, and I’d love to get in a bit more training. When can I start?”

Frances raised a brow. “What about tomorrow?”

Charlie grinned.

-x-

“So, everything is good?”

Carlisle nodded. “As far as I can tell you’re doing just fine, nothing worrying came up. I’m not sure if that would change if you spent more time away, but I’m assuming that’s not something you are planning to try out anytime soon?”

“Nope.” Charlie shook her head. “I mean, I was fine over Christmas, and I’m not too worried about that. That’s good! Rose can stop fussing and we can move on with the things we wanted to do. She still owes me a movie date!”

Carlisle smiled. “So I heard.”

Charlie hopped off the kitchen counter and made her way to the stairs before she stopped herself, turning around. “Hey, Carlisle?”

“Yes?” he asked curiously.

“What would happen if those dudes in Italy found out you were hosting a human?”

Carlisle’s lip quirked, but he soon schooled his features. “I am not quite sure. They have hosted humans themselves before, in the past, though all with the intention of changing them later on. With you, well, it would be up to you.”

“Oh,” Charlie said. “You guys would change me if I wanted to?”

“Yes,” Carlisle nodded, though Charlie could see the conflict in his eyes. “Not after making sure it was a well-informed decision, of course. We don’t want this to be anyone’s choice but yours.”

“Oh,” she oh-so-intelligently said once more.

“Just something to keep in mind, as an option,” Carlisle said, sitting back down at the kitchen table with a stack of papers. “You don’t have to think about it just yet, but we would like you to know that we would love to welcome you into our family, should that be what you decide. Human, or changed.”

Charlie smiled awkwardly, her mind reeling. “Thanks.”

-x-

“That was epic,” Charlie said, her eyes wide. “Elsa slays!”

Rosalie shook her head with an exasperated sigh as she pulled a lagging Charlie along back to the parking garage. “It was a good movie. I enjoyed the details of the animation, it was much better than the first movie.”

“I want a water horse,” Charlie nodded, in thought. “And a talking snowman. Do you know any vamps who could make me something like that?”

“No,” Rosalie said, rolling her eyes. “Well, I believe there is a guy who can control the elements, somewhere in Egypt. You would have to ask Carlisle for the details.”

“Egypt?” Charlie asked, pulling Rosalie towards the elevator instead of the staircase. “Well, that’s a bit too far away for me. I don’t have the money to fly there, either. I think my water horse has to wait.”

“I’m sure,” Rosalie answered, her lip quirking up.

“Hey guess what?”

“What?”

Charlie grinned. “Did you know it’s almost my birthday?”

The elevator dinged open, but Rosalie was suddenly frozen. “Wait _what_? How did you not tell me your birthday earlier?”

Charlie shrugged. “Never came up.” Her look turned pensive. “I don’t think I know your birthday either.”

“We don’t celebrate ours,” Rosalie said, waving the comment off. “But you! You’re turning eighteen and you didn’t think to let me know earlier?”

“I’m telling you now,” Charlie said cheekily, pulling Rosalie into the elevator, pushing the button that lead their floor, before impatiently pressing repeatedly on the button that should close the doors.

Rosalie closed her eyes and sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here's part 5! One more full-sized part to go, then two small scenes and then this story is finished :) Thanks for your lovely comments & kudos, it makes me very happy when I get a notification! I hope you're all doing good, and I hope you're enjoying this story of mine. If you have some time, please leave me a comment!!   
> Until next time,  
> Laura


	6. Part 6

“Happy birthday!” Cass screamed, running towards a bewildered Charlie who stood in the middle of the school parking lot. Before Charlie could react she was pulled into a tight hug. “My favorite dancer is finally an adult, how does it feel?”

“It feels like I’m being crushed to death,” Charlie got out, prompting Cass to let go. “Besides, I thought your sister was your favorite dancer?”

Cass scrunched her nose. “Naah, she was a Meany this morning.”

“Don’t mind her,” said Anna, who caught up with the two of them. “She woke up early and made herself a cup of coffee. Which she clearly can’t handle.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Cass said, sounding offended, before her attention was drawn away. “Hey, there’s Meghan!”

Charlie turned around to see Meghan walking towards them, a small white box in her hands.

“Morning,” Meghan said with a smile. She held the box up. “I brought you a gift!”

“Awh, you guys, you shouldn’t have,” Charlie sighed, though her curious hands took the box from Meghan. Peeking inside, she grinned. “Cake?”

“You can share it with us,” Anna said with a smile. “Chocolate cake. Apparently, that’s your favorite?”

“Yes!” Charlie exclaimed, looking up from the box. “How did you guys know that?”

“We asked Rosalie,” Cass said with a shrug. “We figured she might know.”

Charlie froze. “You _asked Rosalie_? As in, you actually _talked_ to her?”

“Yep,” Meghan nodded. “She’s quite chill, actually.”

Charlie’s eyes grew wider. “Rosalie is _chill_? What kind of alternative universe did I end up in? I thought she was the ‘resident ice queen’?”

“Well, we had never really talked to her before,” Meghan said with a shrug. “She is different than I expected.”

“Damn,” Charlie said. “This is one hell of an interesting birthday already.”

-x-

Two cold arms surrounded her and Charlie leaned back, letting go of the locker door.

“Happy birthday.”

Turning around, Charlie took the opportunity to hug Rosalie back properly. “Thank you.”

With a quick peck, they separated and Rosalie presented a small package, which Charlie accepted with a look. “I told you that you didn’t have to get me anything.”

Rosalie raised a brow. “And you thought I’d listen.”

“Nah,” Charlie said, a grin spreading across her face. “I knew you wouldn’t. Didn’t stop me from trying, though.”

“Well, open it,” Rosalie prompted, nodding to the box. “It isn’t going to open itself.”

Charlie let her backpack slip from her shoulder, putting it on the ground. Holding the package with both hands, she tore the wrapping paper away. “Oh, thank you! This is amazing!”

“I was unsure of what you would have the need for,” Rosalie explained, watching as Charlie inspected the voucher of the dance company. “Now you can look for something yourself.”

“This is lovely,” Charlie wondered, looking back up with a smile.

“No problem,” Rosalie said. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out another box. “That was not all, though.”

“Rose,” Charlie laughed. “You’ve already given me enough!”

“Just something small,” Rosalie promised, pushing it into Charlie’s hands.

Charlie reluctantly took it, noticing this present was heavier than the last one. Once more tearing away the paper, she was left with a black notebook.

“Turn it around.”

Charlie flipped the notebook, eyes landing on the silver letters that graced the front. Promptly, she burst out laughing.

_Charlie’s notebook_

_A place for doodles and the like to spare Rosalie from being permanently covered in ink_

-x-

“That new choreography is a pain in the ass,” Charlie panted as she slipped her feet into her sneakers.

“You seemed to pick it up easily enough,” Rosalie said, holding the door of the dressing room open for Charlie to escape into the hallway.

“Yeah, it was better once I got the hang of it.” Charlie hummed, waving happily to the receptionist as they walked past her and onto the sidewalk. “So, what are we going to do now?”

Rosalie nodded to where the red car was, wordlessly showing the way. “I was thinking I could take you out for dinner? Maybe we can go to some stores too, and Esme asked me to pick up some art supplies.”

Charlie smiled and looked up at her girlfriend. “Sounds like a plan.”

-x-

_“Hey Char!”_

“Hey Bells!” Charlie said happily, holding her phone against her ear with one hand, using the other to move her leg up on the kitchen counter, stretching. “How are you doing?”

 _“I’m good,”_ Bella answered. _“I have to leave for work in a minute, but there is something I need to tell you.”_

Charlie perked up, bending her leg. “What is it?”

_“Phil is planning on asking mom to marry him.”_

Charlie lost her balance and nearly fell to the ground, only managing to hold herself upright by grabbing on to the kitchen chair that stood near. “Wait _what_?”

 _“You heard me,”_ Bella laughed. _“Phil wants to marry Mom. And he has also been offered a place on the Jacksonville baseball team, which is a different plan altogether.”_

“Mom is getting married,” Charlie stated, carefully lifting her leg off the counter and putting it back on the floor. “Well, probably, I don’t think there’s a way she would say no to him, she’s totally in love. Damn. And Jacksonville? That’s Florida, right?”

 _“Yes,”_ Bella answered. _“They were talking about looking for a house there in some new neighborhood.”_

“Shit,” Charlie sighed. “I’ve missed a lot, haven’t I?”

 _“Mom-”_ Bella started. _“Well, Mom said there was some prestigious dance school nearby as well.”_

Charlie froze. “Oh.”

 _“Not that you have to move with us, if we end up going,”_ Bella hurried to reassure. _“Just something to think about. Didn’t Frances say you were nearly back at your old level? It won’t be long until they can’t challenge you enough anymore.”_

“Right,” Charlie said, unfreezing. “I’ll have to think about it.”

 _“Nothing will be happening too soon,”_ Bella said. _“I mean, Phil still has to ask Mom, but maybe you’ll keep it in mind?”_

“Yeah,” Charlie said with a nod. “Yeah, I will.”

-x-

“You guys should go on a double date!” Cass said, eyes wide as they made their way to their usual table in the cafeteria.

“Uh,” Charlie said awkwardly, not knowing what to say to that without coming across as a bitch. She might like Meghan and Luke, who had been a dating for a few weeks now, but going out with them and Rose was definitely asking for awkwardness.

Luckily Meghan saved the day, seemingly having the same thoughts. “I don’t think that’s a great idea. Sorry Char” – she threw an apologetic glance into Charlie’s direction – “you guys are cute and all, but Luke is terrified of Rosalie.”

That stopped Charlie in her tracks. “Wait, what?”

“You remember that we told you lots of guys tried to ask Rosalie out when they first came to live here?” Meghan asked, pulling her along to sit down.

“Yes,” Charlie said slowly, before realization came over her. “Wait, you mean-“

“Luke was one of them,” Meghan said with a grin. “She tore him down completely. I mean, I like him, and I know what Rosalie did was probably not meant as a personal attack at him or anything, but yeah, I don’t think he will voluntarily go out with us.”

Charlie laughed. “No, that doesn’t sound likely.”

-x-

“You’re going out with Sarah tonight?” Charlie asked, wiggling her brows.

Her dad smiled as he took a seat on the couch next to her. “Yes. We’re meeting up at the diner for dinner.”

“Fancy,” Charlie nodded. “So, how are things going between the two of you?”

“We’re taking it slow,” her dad said. “We don’t want to hurry anything along.”

“But?” Charlie prompted, nudging him with her elbow. “You must have some thoughts?”

“I really like her,” he said to her surprise. She had not expected him to be that open about his feelings. “She is very easy to talk to, and we have a lot in common.”

Charlie smiled. “I’m glad. Are you bringing her home tonight?”

Her dad nearly choked.

“Ugh no, not like that, you pervert,” Charlie said, her face contorting. “And I definitely wouldn’t want to know the answer to that either. I want to know when I can meet her. And, you know, have the entire ‘if you break his heart, I’ll break your neck’ conversation.”

Her dad glared. “Don’t you dare.”

Charlie grinned. “I’m not going to promise anything.”

-x-

Charlie frowned, looking at the shapes and numbers in front of her, feeling the need to slam her head into the kitchen table. She would never actually do that, of course; Esme would kill her if she damaged the furniture, but that did not lessen the feeling of wanting to do it.

“Uh, Charlie? Are you alright?”

Charlie looked up and wanted to smack herself because of her stupidity as she saw the brooding vamp of the bunch standing in the doorway, looking somewhat concerned. That, she could understand, seeing as her train of thought had not been that friendly for the past half hour or so.

“Sorry,” she said with a wince. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just very, very bad at math.”

“And now you’re planning ways to hurt yourself over it?” Edward said, raising a perfectly shaped brow.

“Something like that,” Charlie said, waving dismissively. “Hey, you’ve gone through high school a couple of times, right?”

Edward nodded.

“You should know how to do this stuff, then? Can you help me out?” Charlie asked. “Rosalie has left me for her cars. I swear she loves them more than she loves me.”

His lip quirked up. “I know for a fact that is not true. Close call, though.”

“Ha!” Charlie said with a grin. “I knew it! Rose is horny for cars!”

“If you say that any louder, she’ll ignore you for a month!” a voice sounded from the living room.

“Is Emmett speaking from experience?” Charlie asked Edward, patting the chair next to her to get him to sit down.

“Yes,” Edward said, awkwardly taking a seat. “March, 1987. He’s never said it again.”

Charlie winced. “Maybe it’s better if I don’t mention any of that again.”

“Definitely,” Edward agreed immediately. “Now, what is it you don’t understand?”

-x-

“Are you guys all geniuses?”

Rosalie looked up from where she was leaning over the car. “What?”

Charlie hopped down the few stairs that lead down into the garage. “Are you guys like, all super smart? Is that a part of the vampire package as well?”

“We have perfect recall,” Rosalie answered, returning her attention to the engine she was working on. “Our brain works much faster than that of a human, too.”

“So that’s a yes, then,” Charlie concluded, grinning at the fact that she’d remembered to put on a pair of thick warm socks, saving her from the cold floor. She pushed some tools that lay on the workbench aside and climbed on up, wincing when she slammed her knee into the edge of the bench as she did so.

“Why did you want to know that?”

“Edward helped me out with my math stuff and I realized he knew exactly what he was talking about. Not just like, in a ‘I vaguely remember what this is about let me think for a moment’. He jumped straight in! I mean, I’m not dumb or anything, usually, but it would take me a while to even figure out what it all was about before I could explain things.”

Rosalie turned around and came her way, putting down the tools she was using. “Edward helped you?”

“Yep,” Charlie nodded, watching with a small smile as Rosalie walked over to the sink and went through the movements of removing the grease from her hands. “He looks like he’s got a big stick stuck up his ass, but once he relaxed a bit, he was a chill guy. He’s a good teacher.”

Rosalie halted. “Never before in my undead life have I ever heard anyone call Edward a _chill guy_.”

Charlie laughed, jumping off the workbench and strolling over to Rosalie, slinging her arms around Rosalie’s neck. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, right?”

Rosalie’s lip quirked up. “I guess.”

-x-

“Damn, Mom,” Charlie whistled, watching as the slightly blurry image of her mother on her screen held up her hand, showing off the shiny diamond. “That’s one hell of a ring. Phil must be very serious.”

 _“Oh, Char,”_ her mother gushed, letting her hand fall back down. _“It was so romantic! We went out for dinner, walked around in the park and then he got down on one knee. I almost thought I’d faint!”_

Charlie laughed at her mom’s antics. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. Either way, congratulations! You’ll be a married woman soon! Are there any wedding plans yet? A date?”

_“We were thinking of doing it coming summer.”_

Charlie raised a brow. “That’s soon.”

 _“Well, about that,”_ her mom started, looking away for a second. Charlie took a seat at the kitchen table, a feeling of foreboding creeping up on her, and it was not long before her suspicions were confirmed. _“You’re going to be a big sister again.”_

“Holy shit,” Charlie said, her eyes widening. “Holy shit, Mom, are you serious?”

A small smile appeared on her mom’s face. _“Very serious. Phil and I had talked about it, obviously, but we were planning on waiting for at least another few years. Nature had other plans, though.”_

“Congratulations, again,” Charlie said, completely baffled. “Holy shit.”

-x-

“Rose! Guess what?”

Charlie ambushed her girlfriend at her locker, locking her arm around the cold neck and pulling her in for a kiss. Which soon turned into something a bit more heated, until they finally pulled away at the whistle of a random boy who walked along. Rosalie quickly fixed him with a seething stare, and the boy immediately fell quiet. Charlie pulled Rosalie’s attention back to herself, eyes sparkling with joy and excitement.

“What happened?” Rosalie asked, hand absentmindedly pushing Charlie’s hair away from her face.

“My mom is pregnant,” Charlie said, bouncing. “I’m going to get a little sibling!”

Rosalie’s hand stilled. “Wait seriously? Is your mom not… well, too old?”

“You’re old,” Charlie rebutted, sticking her tongue out. “And my mom isn’t that old, she had me when she was nineteen. I’m so excited!”

“Congratulations,” Rosalie said, smiling and feeding off the joy that Charlie exuded. “You’re going to be a lovely big sister.”

“I already am,” Charlie corrected, nodding seriously. “And I’m going to be a bridesmaid, next summer!”

“Next summer?”

“Yep,” Charlie nodded. “Mom and Phil want to get married before she’s too far into the pregnancy. They’re moving to Jacksonville at the start of our summer break.”

“Oh.”

Charlie frowned. “Are you alright?”

“Charlie,” Rosalie started, shifting. “We have been living here for a few years now.”

“I know,” Charlie nodded.

“And whilst we can usually stay at least a year or two longer, our relationship has unintentionally pulled us – me and my family – into the spotlight.”

“So,” Charlie drawled. “What are you trying to say?”

Rosalie looked her in the eyes. “We have to move on. Edward has noticed that more people are getting suspicious about us, about what we do and where we are from. Next summer… we will have to get away from here.”

“You-“ Charlie started. “You’re moving? Where to? Alaska? Canada?”

Rosalie shook her head, gaze flickering to the lockers next to Charlie’s head. “We will be going to Germany. Or Austria. Or a different country in that area.”

“Oh.”

“We will have to start over again,” Rosalie said after a few seconds of silence. “New names, new backstory, tweaking the ages. New phone numbers.”

“Nothing that can trace you back to here,” Charlie whispered.

“Yes.”

“What about us? I mean Rose, I understand that you guys have to leave, I would never want you to be in danger because of the humans or the Italian dudes, but what about me? I mean, if you are going to wipe away all traces, how could we keep in contact without endangering you?”

Rosalie breathed in, closing her eyes. “You will get a choice.”

Charlie tried to get Rosalie to meet her gaze, but did not succeed. “What kind of choice?”

“I- We-“ Rosalie started. “You can come with us. You don’t have to be changed immediately, or at all, if you don’t want to, but you can come live with us. But-“

“All my traces would have to be wiped away as well,” Charlie finished softly, looking down as realization washed over her.

“You would have to leave your family. For good. I don’t want to ask this of you, and I most certainly don’t want you to have to leave them behind, I know how much they mean to you, but I want to give you a choice. You deserve a choice, no matter how shitty this situation is.”

“I- I-” 

Rosalie interrupted her. “You don’t have to make a choice right now, I don’t expect you to answer soon. There are at least two or three months left until- well, until we will leave.”

Tears welled up in Charlie’s eyes as conflict waged in her heart. Without warning she pulled Rosalie into a hug, burying her head into Rosalie’s chest. Her words were muffled, but she knew they would not be hard to pick up for Rosalie’s superior hearing.

“I love you.”

-x-

Charlie went through the motions of measuring out all the ingredients and dumping them all into a bowl, mixing until she was left with a smooth batter. The easy focus of having to pay attention to what she was doing helped to get her mind off of things she would rather not think about at the moment.

She opened the cupboard to find some cupcake liners when her eyes landed on a box of food coloring, an idea forming in her mind. Quickly she checked the expiration date before snatching both the box and the cupcake liners from the shelf and taking them to the counter. Dividing the batter into six bowls she grabbed from the drawer, she added the colors, stirring until it was all mixed before building up the different layers in the cupcake tin.

When the oven was finally at the right temperature, she carefully slid the cupcake tin in and set a timer.

Why make normal cupcakes when you can make gay cupcakes instead?

Still, as she watched the cupcakes slowly rise through the oven door, her mind wandered back to the things Rosalie had told her. Slowly but surely it took her into a downward spiral of depressing thoughts, taking her mood with it.

_What was she supposed to do?_

-x-

 _“You have been offered a place at the dance academy,”_ her mom gushed, not able to see Charlie’s red, tear-stricken face. _“Jasmine pulled some strings, showed them some recent videos Frances sent her, and you can come and audition there, but you’re pretty much as good as accepted, should you want that! Is it what you want?”_

Charlie could no longer contain herself, the emotions becoming too much, making her burst at the seams. “Is that what I want? How the fuck should I know what I want? Can no one stay out of my business? Can no one make their own decisions these days?”

Tears were streaming down her face, and she hung her head down.

_“Char? Are you okay, hon?”_

“I’m fine,” she claimed, although she knew she could not sound convincing at all, even less so after her outburst. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Her mom was silent for a moment. _“Is there anything you want to talk about? Are things going alright at school? With friends?”_

“Yeah,” Charlie sighed, wiping her cheek with her sleeve, sniffing pathetically. “Yeah, I’m doing good in school, and my friends are fine. There’s just a lot on my mind right now, I’m sorry I let it all out on you, I didn’t mean to.”

“ _It’s alright,”_ her mom reassured. _“I can understand that. You can leave the dance academy to be for now, alright? You don’t have to say yes to anything just yet. Take care of yourself, Char.”_

“I will,” Charlie sighed.

-x-

“Dad?” Charlie called out as she checked the fridge.

“Yeah?” his voice sounded from the living room.

Charlie frowned as she took her phone out of her back pocket, shutting the door. Pulling up an empty page in her notes, she made her way to the living room, where she found her dad sitting in the armchair. “We’re out of milk. And the cereal is almost all gone too. And we need some vegetables. I think I’m going to the supermarket, is there anything you need?”

Her dad looked up from his newspaper, surprised. “Oh, I didn’t notice. Why don’t I come with you? We can make it a father-daughter date.”

“Sure,” Charlie smiled, finishing up the list she was typing.

“And we can go out for dinner after?”

Charlie fixed him with a stern mocking glare. “The entire point of buying food ourselves is that we can make some healthy meals at home.”

Her dad grinned, standing up from his chair. “Aren’t we allowed to treat ourselves at times?”

Charlie sighed before she chuckled. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose.”

When her dad pumped his fist in victory, she simply stuck out her tongue and went on to go look for her sneakers. How come she could never find those suckers?

-x-

Charlie jumped from her bike, dragging it with her to the porch to lean it against the pole there. Unclipping the helmet, she pulled it from her head, one hand coming up to brush her hair back into place. The road up to the Cullen mansion was surprisingly steep, and surprisingly not that smooth, and whilst her stamina was normally fine with all the training she did, she could not help but pant for breath now.

She hung her helmet from the handlebar and climbed up the porch, not taking the effort to lock her bike. It was not like anyone ever came up here in the first place, and if they did, there were at least seven vamps in the house that could stop them from stealing it away. Before she could ring the bell, the door opened, revealing Esme on the other side.

“Good afternoon,” Esme said sweetly, letting Charlie in and closing the door behind her. “Rosalie is upstairs.”

“Or you could always come and play a game with me,” Emmett shouted from the living room. “Instead of doing hanky-panky with Rose.”

“Nah, thanks,” Charlie said with a grin, not bothering to raise her voice. “I’d rather spend time with my girlfriend than beating your sad ass.”

Esme shook her head at their antics, touching Charlie’s shoulder in goodbye as she moved around her to go back to the small office space next to the staircase. Charlie got rid of her shoes and jacket before finding her way upstairs, waving at Alice through the open door of her room, ending up in front of Rosalie’s sanctuary. Without knocking, she let herself in, finding Rosalie sitting cross-legged on the bed, balancing a vile of nail polish on her leg as she neatly painted her nails with the deep red color.

“Hi,” Charlie said, carefully sitting down on the bed, trying not to jostle Rosalie – and as such, the nail polish – too much.

Rosalie looked up with a small smile. “Hey. Did your dad leave you again?”

“Yep,” Charlie nodded. “Another date. I’m pretty sure I’ll get to meet her soon. Do you have any advice for a speech to scare her enough that she’s careful, but not that much that she no longer wants to date Dad?”

Rosalie raised a brow. “No. And I don’t think that’s necessary, either. Your dad is a grown man, he can take care of himself.”

“You’re no fun,” Charlie pouted.

Rosalie simply shook it off, holding up the nail polish. “Want me to do yours as well?”

“Nah,” Charlie answered, taking the change of subject with a sigh. “It’s way too addicting to pull it off once it’s dry, and that messes up my nails.”

Rosalie rolled her eyes. “Right.” She screwed the lid back on and leaned towards the nightstand, putting the bottle down. “Well, we have some time to kill before we have to start on the new History project. What do you want to do?”

The project was forgotten that night, as Charlie found herself sitting against the headboard, eyes focused on the movie that was playing on the screen that hung on the wall. She had no idea how Rosalie’s head had ended up in her lap, but she was not complaining, using one hand to absentmindedly comb through the long blond hair.

The atmosphere in the room was relaxed, the tension slowly seeping out of her body. The choices she had to make were still very much present in the back of her mind, but for now she enjoyed the peaceful feeling that simply being with Rosalie brought.

How could she make a choice without breaking her heart?

-x-

“Did you think about the academy’s offer?” Frances asked, sitting down with Charlie after the training session of the day. “I heard they were impressed.”

Charlie winced. “I thought about it, yeah. I’m not sure about it yet.”

Frances nodded. “I know this can’t be an easy choice, with you having just moved here, but do keep in mind this is the chance of a lifetime. You won’t find yourself in this position often.”

“I know,” Charlie sighed, leaning her head into her hands. “It’s pretty much everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I just- I don’t know.”

-x-

“Are you alright?”

Charlie looked up from where she had been drawing in the notebook Rosalie had given her for her birthday to find Jasper had moved one seat to the front, to the spot that Rosalie usually occupied. Today she was off figuring out some legal stuff for the move together with Carlisle, leaving Charlie alone and bored as the other pairs worked on the project she and Rose had finished yesterday. Which meant that she had too much time alone with her thoughts again.

“I’m fine,” Charlie smiled, though she could not completely hide the hint of pain in her voice.

Jasper raised his brows. “You’re not.”

Charlie halted and frowned, before she nodded in realization. “Right, the empath. I have no idea why I keep forgetting that you guys have like, superpowers.”

Jasper smiled. “It doesn’t fit your view of normal, it isn’t odd for you to forget it.”

“True, true,” Charlie said. “Wait, with an empath, telepath and psychic in the family, do you guys have any kind of privacy?”

“Not really.” Jasper shook his head. “And you can add our superior hearing, vision and sense of smell to that list too. We try to give each other some sense of privacy, but complete privacy in a house full of us is impossible.”

Charlie scrunched her nose. “No offense, but I hate that. I much prefer being able to keep people out of my business, no matter how good their intentions are.”

“You really are passionate about that,” Jasper noted, lowering his voice when a few people glanced their way.

Charlie sighed, shutting her notebook and laying down her Sharpie. “Did Rose ever tell you how I found out about you guys?”

Jasper shook his head.

“Billy Black recommended a book about mythical creatures to me where everything I had noticed - but ignored because people are allowed to have their secrets – was listed on a page about vampires.”

Jasper stiffened in his seat. “Black?”

“Yep,” Charlie said. “Which was dumb because A; he also gave their own secret away, and B; I fucking hate it when people stick their nose where it doesn’t belong. Which I also told him, along with a few other choice words.”

Jasper coughed.

“What?” Charlie grinned. “I didn’t say anything that was too bad, he’s my father’s friend after all. But I’m pretty sure he will leave me alone, so that’s good.”

It was silent for a few seconds before Jasper spoke up. “You are one hell of an interesting person.”

-x-

“You’re going to move again?” Leah asked with a surprised look on her face as she climbed out of her truck.

“Probably, yeah,” Charlie said, locking her bike against a streetlight. “I haven’t really figured things out yet, though.”

Leah pouted as they made their way into the diner, the smell of food wafting their way immediately. “And you’re going to leave me to be that one percent of Forks and surroundings that is something else than Straight?”

“Yep,” Charlie said, a small grin fleeting across her face. “Sorry about that.”

Leah sighed dramatically. “Well, I guess I’ll manage. How are you going to do things with your girlfriend if you end up moving? Long-distance relationship?”

“We haven’t figured that out,” Charlie said, knowing her words were a lie in a way. Her eyes found an empty booth in the back corner of the diner and she pulled Leah along. “And, well, Rose is going to move too next year.”

“Really?” Leah said, raising a brow. “Why is that?”

“Her dad has been offered a job somewhere else,” Charlie said, reciting the story the Cullens were telling the people from Forks.

“Ah shit,” Leah said, flopping down on one side of the table. “Well, I hope you figure things out. You guys really are cute together.”

Charlie’s lip quirked as she took a seat, before a sense of dread washed over her. “I know.”

-x-

“Your mom called.”

Charlie looked up from where she was staring out at the water, waiting for her dad to catch something. “Oh?”

“She told me about what the academy offered you.”

Charlie inhaled sharply.

“You know you can tell me stuff like that, right?”

“I- I know,” Charlie said, looking back down as she wrung her hands. “It’s just- it’s complicated.”

“Char.”

Charlie’s eyes found her dad’s again.

“I’m here for you. No matter what you decide.”

-x-

“Are you serious?” Charlie asked, her eyes wide as both Cass and Meghan were dying of laughter.

“Very” – Cass hiccoughed – “serious!”

“This isn’t funny guys,” Anna called, sulking, from where she was sitting on top of her dresser.

“Oh, come on,” Meghan said, calming down a bit. “You have to admit those pictures are funny.”

“Funny to anyone who isn’t me, sure,” Anna grumbled.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve got some terrible pictures from a little me on my phone somewhere,” Cass said before she shoved a piece of cake into her mouth. “If you wait a minute I’ll pull them up.”

“Manners!” Meghan mock-scolded, a twinkle in her eyes.

Cass stuck her tongue out once her mouth was empty and picked up her phone.

Charlie smiled.

-x-

“We have to talk.”

The words, reminding Charlie of the ‘yes I’m a vampire’ discussion, were spoken by Rosalie this time when they sat in history class, waiting for the lesson to start. All around them, people were discussing holiday plans for the summer, and whilst the stories of exotic countries were somewhat nicely distracting, they also reminded her of the choice she would have to make soon. A choice Rosalie was probably aiming at, with her ‘we have to talk’.

“I know,” Charlie said softly. “Want to come over once I’m back from dance? My dad works a late shift.”

Rosalie looked just as dejected as her. “I’ll be there at ten.”

-x-

It was dark outside, but the moonlight reflected off of Rosalie’s skin in a way that made her look almost magical. The wind ruffled her clothes ever so slightly as she stood on the porch, waiting for Charlie to say something.

“Hi.”

As if they were on the same brainwave, they gravitated towards each other, hugging tightly. Even though Charlie did not want it to feel like this, it had a sense of finality to it. Whilst neither had spoken up about it yet, she knew deep down where this conversation was going. And she did not like it.

With a loud exhale, they pulled away, but making sure to keep skin contact.

“Let’s go to my room?”

At Rosalie’s nod, they tracked up the stairs hand in hand, going into Charlie’s messy room. They found purchase on her bed, backs against the wall, leaving their shoes on the ground.

Charlie leaned into Rosalie’s side. Time ticked by slowly.

“I don’t want to make a choice,” she whispered, tearing up as thoughts and scenarios flew through her mind.

Rosalie’s breath halted. “I know. But I think we both know which decision is best for you right now.”

“I-“ Charlie started, swallowing, before speaking her fears out loud. “But what if I’m wrong?”

“There are no right or wrong decisions, here,” Rosalie said softly, arm coming up to rest around Charlie’s shoulders. “Yes, it will… hurt. But it will either way. And we both know we can learn to live with that.”

Charlie closed her eyes. “I don’t want to leave my family behind.

“I know,” Rosalie answered. “So you won’t.”

A tear rolled down Charlie’s cheek. “No, I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hides out under blanket*
> 
> ...believe it or not, when I started writing this story back in October, this was the ending I had in mind. Because something that bothered me greatly was how easily the OG Bella could give up her family. And Charlie isn't that OG Bella. And don't even get me going on about the OG Cullens choice of just moving around the US for decades on end. I hope you all enjoyed this journey of a story, even if the ending might be bitter in a way. There is a reason I named this story 'The Bittersweet Dance Of Life', after all :) Life isn't always roses, rainbows and unicorns, but it is also filled with difficult decisions. There are still two short epilogues that follow this final part of the story, the two ending scenes to this story of mine.
> 
> Is this really the end? Will there be a sequel some day? I honestly don't know at this point, although I'm not sure I can let go of this story and the characters completely. We'll have to see what life brings, I guess :)
> 
> I want to say thank you to all of you who read my story, it has been a joy to share it with all of you! Thank you for all the reviews, and please do keep on leaving them, it makes my day whenever I get a notification.
> 
> Maybe until a next time,
> 
> \- Laura


	7. Epilogue: Rose

_Austria_

“You look professional,” Emmett said, raising a brow.

Rosalie straightened her blazer. “I got called in, there’s a case of domestic abuse and they need me to pick up the kid. I’ll probably be home late tonight.”

Emmett smiled. “Good luck. You’ve got this.”


	8. Epilogue: Charlie

_Jacksonville_

Charlie wiggled her feet nervously, smoothing her hair back before checking if her clothing was still in place. Her bare feet were cold, but she did not pay much attention to them, the nerves in her stomach distracting her too much to care about the numbness.

“Char!”

She looked up to see Iris’s head sticking in to their dressing room.

“Come on, we’re up in a minute!”

Steeling her resolve, she nodded once, jumping up from her chair. “Alright, I’m coming.”

Iris disappeared and Charlie followed her behind. The loud cheering of the audience made the nerves play up again, and she took a few breaths to calm herself down. You’ve got this, she told herself.

Their names were announced over the speakers, and the audience quieted down, the lights dimming once more. Iris’s eyes found hers, and there was an unspoken question that hung in the air. Charlie took a deep breath in and nodded.

A smile spread across Iris’s face, and she held her hand out, handing Charlie a single rose.

The red flower felt heavy in her grip, a strong ache building up in her chest, but she managed to push it down. With one more shared look, they climbed the stage together, taking position in the dark. Charlie glanced to the audience, spotting Bella, Phil, Mom and little Noah on the front row. Bella’s gaze met hers, and her sister mouthed a quick encouragement before Charlie hung her head down and emptied her mind.

With the first tones of the music, came the flow of the movements.

_I’ve got this._


	9. Announcement

What do you do when half of your soul is lost? Well, you go on a search to find it, of course. Even if that involves vampires, shapeshifters and drugs. The kind that the doctor gives you. -or- A series of scenes in which Charlie (Charlotte) Swan tries to find her soulmate. [sequel to The Bittersweet Dance of Life]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :) It's been a while! Remember that I said I wasn't sure if there would ever be a sequel? Well... as it turns out the story, characters and inspiration did not really want to leave me alone soooo this thing happened.
> 
> If you want to have the story end where it did in this story, feel free to imagine this doesn't exist lmao, but if you want more gay twilight content involving Rose and Charlie? Go check out my page for this sequel ;)
> 
> Have a wonderful day!
> 
> \- Laura


End file.
